Asian Shares Mixed In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday and Hong Kong preparing for Typhoon Ragasa, which is expected to pass the city in the next 24 hours.

Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets ended lower as technology stocks retreated from a stellar rally over the past month.

China's Shanghai Composite index ended 0.18 percent lower at 3,821.83, recouping some earlier losses.

Suning.Com shares plunged 4.8 percent after the troubled retailer said its largest shareholder Alibaba Group Holding plans to cut its stake in the company.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.70 percent to 26,159.12 after Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, didn't announce any immediate policy changes at a high-level briefing on Monday.

Seoul stocks climbed to a new high for the second consecutive session following Wall Street's record-breaking rally, fueled by renewed optimism in big tech companies.

The Kospi average rose 0.51 percent to 3,486.19. Samsung Electronics gained 1.4 percent and SK Hynix rallied 2.9 percent amid improved sentiment for the global chip industry.

Australian markets ended higher for a third straight session after new Fed Governor Stephen Miran laid out his argument for aggressively lowering interest rates.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.40 percent to 8,845.90, led by a rally in banks and miners. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.39 percent higher at 9,137.80.

Cettire, which operates in online luxury fashion retail, surged 18.8 percent after Director Dean Mintz acquired an additional 10.7 million shares in the company.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index finished marginally lower at 13,136.54 amid unconfirmed reports of an appointment coming up of new Governor of the RBNZ.

The dollar index trimmed losses from the previous session in the wake of cautionary remarks from Fed officials and ahead of the release of key manufacturing and services PMI data.

Traders also shifted focus to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech and upcoming PCE Price Index data, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, which is expected to signal subdued price pressures.

Gold hovered near record levels above $3,750 per ounce while oil extended declines for a fifth day on oversupply concerns, exacerbated by a preliminary agreement to restart an Iraqi-Kurdish oil pipeline.

U.S. stocks edged higher overnight, with the major averages all reaching new record closing highs, as President Trump-backed newly installed Fed governor Stephen Miran dismissed fears of tariffs stoking inflation and said rates should be below 3 percent by end of year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7 percent as OpenAI and NVIDIA announced a landmark AI infrastructure partnership, and the White House confirmed that Oracle would be part of a consortium of investors that will control TikTok's U.S. operations. The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent and the Dow inched up 0.1 percent.