Asian shares are trading mixed amid caution about the war in Iran

TOKYO: Asian shares were mixed in subdued trading early Tuesday, as recent enthusiasm cooled and markets faced uncertainty about efforts to end the war in Iran.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.9 per cent in morning trading to 71,681.29.

“We've had eight days of strong markets. The market was up for about 12.5 per cent, and now it has cooled off a little bit,” said Neil Newman, Managing Director, Head of Strategy at Astris Advisory Japan.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up less than 0.1 per cent in morning trading at 8,822.10. South Korea's Kospi dipped 2.8 per cent to 8,863.52. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.4 per cent to 23,678.22, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.2 per cent to 4,170.58.

On Wall Street, stocks drifted through a mixed day of trading on Monday after oil prices eased and Big Tech stocks declined.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.4 per cent, coming off 11 winning weeks in the last 12, and pulled 1.8 per cent below its all-time high set early this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 148 points, or 0.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite slumped 1.3 per cent.

In the oil market, prices fell following talks over the weekend between the United States and Iran on their war. US Vice President JD Vance said they created a “good foundation for a successful final deal”.

An end to the war could open the Strait of Hormuz for oil tankers and allow for the full resumption of deliveries from the Persian Gulf. Iran's military said Saturday that it had closed the strait again, though US Central Command has disputed that.

Early Tuesday, benchmark US crude rose 35 cents to USD 74.21 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 23 cents to USD78.13 a barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.50 per cent from 4.46 per cent. Yields have been climbing because of speculation the Federal Reserve may hike interest rates this year to keep a lid on inflation, which has been accelerating because of expensive oil caused by the Iran war.

Economists expect a report on Thursday to show a measure of inflation for US consumers sped up to 4.1 per cent in May from 3.8 per cent in April.

SpaceX fell 16.4 per cent to USD 154.60, the third straight drop for the company behind xAI since a big three-day run following its ballyhooed debut on the US stock market, when it initially sold its stock at USD 135 per share.

The day's heaviest weights on the S&P 500 included drops of 5 per cent for Alphabet, 4.7 per cent for Amazon and 4.5 per cent for Broadcom.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 27.79 points to 7,472.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 148.01 to 51,712.71, and the Nasdaq composite fell 351.33 to 26,166.60.

In currency trading, the US dollar edged up to 161.60 Japanese yen from 161.52 yen. The euro cost USD 1.1427, down from USD 1.1431.