SINGAPORE – Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed during Tuesday’s trading, with Chinese search giant Baidu making its debut in Hong Kong.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.53%, while the Topix index rose 0.33%. The South Korean Kospi slipped a fraction.
Mainland Chinese stocks fell as the Shanghai composite fell 0.21%, while the Shenzhen component fell 0.287%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has changed little.
Shares in Australia were up step by step, with the S & P / ASX 200 up 0.26%.
MSCI’s widest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan was 0.15% higher.
In terms of business developments, Baidu’s shares started in Hong Kong on Tuesday, with shares rising more than 1% from their issue price in early trading. The company joins a long list of US-listed Chinese technology companies that have made secondary offerings in Hong Kong, including Alibaba and JD.com.
Tech stock watch
Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific technology stocks were mixed in trading Tuesday morning. Shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group rose 0.17%, while South Korean heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 0.12%. LG Electronics, on the other hand, was down 2.9%.
In Hong Kong, Tencent’s shares rose 0.47% higher, while Alibaba fell 0.26%.
The moves in regional technology stocks came after their counterparts rebounded stateside overnight amid declining bond yields, with tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumping 1.23% to close at 13,377.54.
Other major indices on Wall Street also rose that day: the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 3,940.59 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 103.23 points to 32,731.20.
The moves in the United States came as 10-year Treasury yield fell 5 basis points to around 1.68% (1 basis point equals 0.01%), after a 14-month high last week. It last stood at 1.6964%.
Currencies and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91,829 – still above last week’s levels below 91.5.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.84 per dollar, stronger than levels above 108.75 versus last week’s dollar. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7726, still lower than last week’s $ 0.78.
Oil prices fell in the morning of trading hours in Asia, with the international benchmark for Brent crude oil futures falling 0.99% to $ 63.98 a barrel. US crude oil futures fell 0.96% to $ 60.97 a barrel.
– CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.
Correction: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the level of the US dollar index.