SINGAPORE — Shares in Japan looked set for a lower start on Tuesday as global market volatility lingers.
The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 27,240 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 27,200. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 27,248.87.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.22% in morning trade.
Investors in Asia-Pacific will monitor tech stocks in the region, after the Nasdaq Composite led losses overnight among the major indexes stateside, falling 0.58% to 14,015.67.
The S&P 500 also declined 0.37% to 4,483.87 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed just 1.39 points to 35,091.13.
Global markets have continued to see a wave of volatility as investors continue to assess the outlook for factors such as central bank policy normalization, with expectations that fast-rising wages in the U.S. could lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates even higher this year.
“For now at least, inflation and related central bank thinking remains by far the bigger influence on market sentiment,” Ray Attrill, head of foreign exchange strategy at National Australia Bank, wrote in a Tuesday note.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.415 — off levels around 95.2 seen late last week.
The Japanese yen traded at 115.07 per dollar following its strengthening yesterday from levels above 115.2 against the greenback. The Australian dollar was at $0.7123 after yesterday’s climb from below $0.708.
