SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Tuesday morning trade, with the Australian central bank set to announce its interest rate decision later in the day.
Japanese stocks slipped following their Monday surge, with the Nikkei 225 slipping 0.55% while the Topix index shed 0.28%. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.83%.
Australian stocks fell into negative territory, as the S&P/ASX 200 erased earlier gains and declined 0.24%. The Reserve Bank of Australia is set to announce its interest rate decision at around 11:30 a.m. HK/SIN.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.04% higher.
Wall Street record closing highs
Overnight on Wall Street, the the S&P 500 gained 0.18% to a record closing high of 4,613.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 94.28 points to 35,913.84, also finishing the trading day at a fresh record. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.63% to about 15,595.92, also a closing record.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.927 after declining recently from above 94.
The Japanese yen traded at 114.07 per dollar, stronger than levels around 114.4 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7521 following its climb yesterday from below $0.75.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping 0.19% to $84.55 per barrel. U.S. crude futures dipped 0.11% to $83.96 per barrel.
