A holiday lull settled over Asian markets on Tuesday after Wall Street closed at historic highs, while oil prices suffered a stinging setback after Saudi Arabia quashed all thought of curbing supply.
Equity investors chose to focus on the benefits that falling fuel prices would have for consumer spending power. Trading was light in Asia with Japanese markets shut for a holiday. Australian stocks ran into profit-taking after three sessions of sharp gains and dipped 0.5 per cent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2 per cent, though markets in Singapore and Taiwan both inched ahead. Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up by 0.29 per cent in early trade, while Japan’s financial markets will remain closed today for a public holiday.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 had put on 0.38 per cent to score an all-time closing high on Monday, while the Dow added 0.87 per cent and the Nasdaq 0.34 per cent.
