Asian stocks fall on Tuesday

Asia’s stock markets fell to one-month lows on Tuesday, dragged down by sharp losses in Japan and South Korea as investors turned cautious ahead of Nvidia’s earnings, seen as a key test for stretched tech valuations.

Japan’s Nikkei dropped 3 per cent in its steepest fall since April, while South Korea’s KOSPI slid 3.3 per cent and MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index outside Japan fell 1.8 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX200 lost nearly 2 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 1.67 per cent. The declines followed a broad Wall Street selloff and rising volatility across global markets.

Analysts said fading investor conviction, valuation concerns, and fatigue after months of gains were weighing on sentiment. Japan’s AI-linked stocks tracked by BNP Paribas fell 4.7 per cent, deepening their monthly slump to about 15 per cent after a strong run earlier in the year.

Safe-haven currencies strengthened, with slight gains for the yen and Swiss franc. Japanese government bonds also weakened, pushing long-dated yields to record highs amid concerns over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s spending plans and uncertainty ahead of a potential Bank of Japan rate hike.

Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 for the first time in seven months, down nearly 2 per cent.

Attribtuion: Reuters