Asia-Pacific stocks lower as investors watch tech shares; HSBC earnings ahead

• Technology shares in Asia-Pacific were watched by investors on Tuesday after their counterparts declined overnight on Wall Street.
• On the earnings front, HSBC is set to report its full-year results on Tuesday. Reuters reported Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter, that HSBC is set to withdraw from U.S. retail banking.
• Markets in Japan are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific declined in Tuesday morning trade, as investors monitored technology stocks regionally after their counterparts declined overnight on Wall Street.

South Korea's Kospi declined 0.66% in early trade. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.21%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.06% lower.

On the earnings front, HSBC is set to report its full-year results on Tuesday. Reuters reported Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter, that HSBC is set to withdraw from U.S. retail banking.

Markets in Japan are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

Technology shares on watch

Technology shares in South Korea slipped in Tuesday morning trade, with LG Electronics falling more than 4% while Samsung Electronics declined about 1%.

The moves came after tech shares stateside tumbled overnight — the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.46% to close at 13,533.05, with Big Tech stocks such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft all falling at least 2%.

The S&P 500 declined 0.8% to end its trading day on Wall Street at 3,876.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the overall trend as it edged 27.37 points higher to close at 31,521.69.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.01 following a decline from levels above 90.4.

The Japanese yen traded at 104.98 per dollar, stronger than levels above 105.6 against the greenback seen yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7915, largely holding on to gains following its surge late last week from around $0.777.

Source: Read Full Article