Key facts
- MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan was down 0.9%, led by a fall of as much as 3.8% in Korean shares.
- Brent crude fluctuated between gains and losses and was last 0.1% lower at $104.72 as Asian trading resumed.
- The US 10-year Treasury yield was up 2.1 basis points at 4.913%, per the report.
- The dollar was 0.3% stronger against the offshore yuan at 6.6645 after the PBoC raised the FX deposit reserve ratio.
- Bitcoin was 0.5% higher at $77,112.18 and ether 0.1% lower at $2,253.59 after last week's Binance hack.
- The RBA was widely expected to raise its cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.85% from 4.6%.
Stocks edged lower at the start of Asian trade on Tuesday, November 3, and oil prices stabilised after the previous session's fall, with investors waiting on the start of voting in US midterm elections. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.9%, led by a decline of as much as 3.8% in Korean shares. S&P 500 e-mini futures edged up 0.1%, while Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 slipped 0.5% in the prior session as tech sector earnings weighed on shares, even as data showed US manufacturing activity picked up in October. Apple shares extended losses, falling 2.8% in after-hours trading after the iPhone maker forecast lower gross margins for the holiday quarter, citing rising memory-chip costs, and projected services revenue growth below Wall Street expectations.
Brent crude fluctuated between gains and losses and was last 0.1% lower at $104.72 as trading resumed in Asia. Crude prices fell more than 7% on Monday as talks between Iranian and Qatari officials lifted hopes for an end to the US-Israeli war with Iran. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the US military struck Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, citing US officials.
In Asia-Pacific, Australian shares were up 0.1% and the Australian dollar held steady at $0.70 ahead of a Reserve Bank of Australia decision at which the central bank was widely expected to raise its cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.85% from 4.6%. Taiwanese shares fell 1.3%, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.3%.
The US dollar was 0.3% stronger against the offshore yuan at 6.6645 after the People's Bank of China said it would raise the foreign exchange deposit reserve ratio for financial institutions to 6% from 4% from November 15. The dollar index edged up 0.1% to 101.81. Bitcoin was 0.5% higher at $77,112.18 and ether 0.1% lower at $2,253.59 after last week's Binance hack, as customers withdrew a net $4.72 billion of funds.