Asian stocks were little changed Tuesday as investors watched US-North Korean tensions after a decline in tech shares dragged down Wall Street.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.1 per cent to 20,377.29 points while the Shanghai Composite Index was unchanged at 3,340.53. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained less than 0.1 per cent to 27,514.44.
Seoul’s Kospi was down less than 0.1 per cent at 2,379.60. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained less than 0.1 per cent to 5,687.40.
Benchmarks in Taiwan and New Zealand gained modestly while Singapore and Jakarta edged down, according to AP.
Tech shares dragged down the US stock markets on Monday. Tech stocks in the S&P index lost 1.4 per cent — more than three times the loss of any of the other 10 sectors that make up the index.
The S&P dropped 0.2 per cent to 2,496.66. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2 per cent to 22,296.09 and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9 per cent to 6,370.59.
Benchmark US crude gained 2 cents to $52.24 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract soared $1.56 on Monday to close at $52.22.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 29 cents to $58.72 in London. It jumped $2.01 the previous session to $58.43.
The dollar advanced to 111.60 yen from Monday’s 111.69 yen. The euro gained to $1.858 from $1.1847.