- On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite Index hit a new record, driven by strong tech stocks, led by Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia.
On Wall Street, tech stocks drove the Nasdaq Composite Index to a record high, while Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Tuesday.
The index rose 0.83% to close at 17,879.3, led by gains in Microsoft, Apple and chipmaker Nvidia.
Asian traders were pleased that South Korea’s inflation rate came in at 2.4 percent in June, below the 2.7 percent forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.64%, while the Tokyo Stock Price Index rose 1.05%.
The Japanese yen fell to a 38-year low against the US dollar, dropping to 161.67 yen.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.68% and the small-cap KOSDAQ lost 1.44% after the inflation data was released.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.15%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.15% after the Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes of its June monetary policy meeting, where board members discussed raising interest rates but ultimately decided to keep them unchanged at 4.35%.
While acknowledging that this “narrow path” was narrowing, members said they still believed it was possible to achieve the Governing Council’s strategy of returning inflation to its target within a reasonable timeframe without falling short of full employment.
Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 recorded gains, rising 0.13% and 0.27% respectively.
—CNBC’s Brian Evans and Samantha Sabin contributed to this report.
