Asian Shares Broadly Lower In Thin Holiday Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mostly lower in thin trade on Tuesday, with Australian and New Zealand markets closed for a public holiday.

Amid increasing anxiety about high interest rates and tightening economic conditions, investors awaited earnings from tech giants Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms for directional cues.

Traders also awaited a slew of upcoming central bank meetings, most notably the Fed, ECB and BOE meetings due over the next two weeks.

Chinese shares ended lower as investors weighed a slew of economic and geopolitical risks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.32 percent to 3,264.87 on concerns about the sustainability of the country's economic recovery.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.71 percent to 19,617.88. Alibaba Group Holdings tumbled 3.2 percent and Baidu plummeted 3.7 percent.

Japanese shares finished marginally higher, after having touched an eight-month high earlier as new BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda vowed to keep interest rates low for now, but signaled the chance of rising rates if wage growth and inflation accelerate faster than expected.

Investors also digested data showing that producer prices in the country were up 1.6 percent year-on-year in March.

The Nikkei average ended marginally higher at 28,620.07, giving up early gains as caution prevailed ahead of Friday's BOJ policy meeting. The broader Topix index closed 0.24 percent higher at 2,042.15.

Electronic makers rose on optimism over expanded government subsidies for chip production, while steel producers slipped on signs of weakening Chinese demand. Nippon Steel gave up 3.8 percent and Kobe Steel shed 3 percent.

Seoul stocks led regional losses, with the Kospi average falling 1.37 percent to 2,489.02 as data showed the country's economy barely avoided a recession in the first quarter of 2023.

Tech stocks suffered heavy losses on concerns over a slowdown in earnings amid aggressive tightening measures by global central banks.

Samsung Electronics plunged 2.5 percent and SK Hynix lost 2 percent. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings slumped 4.8 percent on global growth worries.

U.S. stocks closed mixed overnight as investors braced for mega tech earnings, economic data and central bank meetings in the coming days.

The Dow edged up 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 inched up marginally while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.3 percent.