Asian stock markets were mainly in the green on Tuesday as investors awaited a set of earnings reports from US tech giants, while further cues on the direction of the Federal Reserve’s interest rates were also in focus.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 0.33%, while the broader TOPIX rose 0.21%. Preliminary data showing the country’s services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) surging 54.6 in April barely aided the two indexes.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.42% after Judo Bank’s manufacturing PMI grew to 49.9 this month, closing in on the key 50 threshold indicating expansion. Inflation data for the country down under will also be published on Wednesday.
South Korea’s KOSPI slightly climbed by 0.11%, while India’s Nifty 50 futures expiring in April added 0.57%.
Chinese stocks fared the weakest on Tuesday, with the blue-chip CSI 300 index falling 0.56% and the Shanghai Composite tumbling 0.41%.
Recent strength in Chinese equities has started to wane, as several economic data for March showed the return of sluggish growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Beijing’s vagueness about more stimulus also added to the uncertainty.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, on the other hand, traded 1.66% higher on the tech sector’s surge.
Tencent Holdings Ltd. became the top performer with a 3.00% rise after it set a May 21 launch date for the much anticipated “Dungeon and Fighter” (DnF) mobile game, which has been in development for seven years.
Major US Tech Earnings, PCE Inflation Data in Focus
Investors are now focused on this week’s earnings releases from four of the S&P 500’s so-called “Magnificent Seven” companies.
Electric-vehicle (EV) giant Tesla Inc. is due first later Tuesday, followed by Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. on Wednesday. Software giant Microsoft Corp. and Google LLC parent Alphabet Inc. are set to report on Thursday.
Separately, markets are also awaiting the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index reading for March, which is due on Friday.
Being the Fed’s preferred metric of underlying inflation, the data is broadly seen contributing to the central bank’s position on interest rates, potentially showing that efforts to ease the price surge this year have slowed.
