Asia-Pacific markets mostly lower as Japan’s Nikkei 225 declines 0.8%

SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell across the board on Tuesday as investors remain concerned about inflation as well as likely policy tightening from central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.83% while the Topix index was down 0.8%. The Japanese market was closed in the previous session for a public holiday.

South Korea’s Kospi gave up early gains and traded down 0.07%. The Kosdaq extended losses and was down 1.12%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.28%.

Chinese mainland shares bucked the downward trend and inched higher: The Shenzhen component rose 0.12%.

Elsewhere, the ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.7%. The heavily weighted financials subindex was down 1.56% as the country’s major banking names sold off. Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares were down 2.39% and ANZ declined 1.62%.

Tuesday’s session in Asia followed overnight declines in the U.S. where the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell. But, the Nasdaq finished fractionally higher in regular trading.

Rising bond yields pressured stocks in the previous week. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ticked down 1.76% Monday afternoon stateside after breaching 1.8% earlier in the day. By comparison, the yield on the 10-year note ended 2021 at 1.51%.

“At this juncture, this may be the short pause amid recent yield surges and equities declines, for markets to now consider the finer details of rate hikes, though surely not the final resting points,” Tan Boon Heng from Mizuho Bank wrote in a Tuesday note.

Fed officials have already indicated that they plan to restrict access to cash faster than previously anticipated.

Markets anticipate a 76% chance the U.S. central bank hikes interest rates at its March policy meeting, up from about 15% in mid-October, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch site.

The U.S. dollar dipped 0.12% to 95.877 against a basket of its peers, withdrawing from its previous close at 95.991.

Elsewhere, the Japanese yen changed hands at 115.33 per dollar, weakening from an earlier level of 115.15. The Australian dollar rose 0.2% to $0.7182.

Oil prices rose during Asian trading hours, with U.S. crude adding 0.49% to $78.61 a barrel while global benchmark Brent added 0.41% to $81.20. Prices fell in the previous session on the back of demand worries amid a rise in global Covid cases.

“Investors are closely watching China’s Omicron spread, as policy could trigger more travel restrictions,” ANZ Research analysts said in a morning note.

“But the market could still benefit from tighter supplies and supply risk from Russia. OPEC’s production for December continued to be lower than committed, production increased by 70,000b/d in December,” they added.