Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight as the dollar fell to a six-week low amid confusion about the outlook for US trade policy, with the Nikkei (^N225) down almost 0.1% on the day in Tokyo.
The Japanese yen slipped 0.3%, weakening past 143 against the dollar, ending a three-day winning streak, despite Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Kazuo Ueda expressing willingness to raise interest rates once the central bank is sufficiently convinced that both economic and price growth will resume after a period of stagnation.
Meanwhile the Hang Seng (^HSI) rose 1.5% in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.4% up by the end of the session.
It comes as US president Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to speak again this week, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday. This is just days after Trump accused Beijing of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions.
Data on Monday showed US manufacturing contracted for a third straight month in May and suppliers took the longest time in nearly three years to deliver inputs amid tariffs.
China’s factory activity in May also shrank for the first time in eight months, a private-sector survey showed on Tuesday, indicating US tariffs are starting to hurt manufacturers.
Across the pond on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.1%, to 42,305.48, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.4% to close at 5,935.94, and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) rose 0.7% to 19,242.61.
In the bond market, the yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes rose to 4.450% from 4.425% late on Sunday.
