Asia-Pacific markets mixed; Nikkei 225 down, Hang Seng up

Asia-Pacific markets appeared mixed across the board as investors remain worried about inflation and possible policy tightening from the U.S. Fed.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.86%, while the Topix index appeared down 0.56%. The Japanese market was closed for a public holiday in the previous session.

South Korea’s Kospi reversed losses and traded higher by 0.16%. The Kosdaq struggled the session and stood down 0.98%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rebounded earlier losses and increased 0.38%.

Chinese shares lost momentum as significant indexes fell: The Shenzhen component declined 0.56%, while the Shanghai composite stood fractionally lower by 0.08%.

The ASX 200 in Australia dropped 0.8%. The heavily-weighted financials subindex appeared down 1.08% as the country’s central banking names sold off. Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares went down 1.76%, and ANZ fell 1.4%.

On Tuesday, a session in Asia followed overnight declines in the U.S. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 declined during this session. Though, the Nasdaq finished somewhat higher in the regular trading session.

In the previous week, rising bond yields seemed to be pressuring stocks. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield beat down 1.77% Monday afternoon after reaching 1.9% earlier in the day. By comparison, the yield on the 10-year note finished 2021 at 1.52%. Tan Boon Heng from Mizuho Bank wrote that at the moment, this might be the short pause in the middle of the recent yield surges. Fed officials indicated their plan to restrict access to cash faster than previously expected.

Markets overview: Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar fell 0.12% to 95.883 against a basket of its peers, withdrawing from its previous close at 95.992.

The Japanese yen changed and is at 115.4 per dollar, declining from an earlier level of 115.16. The Australian dollar advanced 0.28% to $0.7188.