Asian shares retreat ahead of US midterms as oil steadies
South Korean shares fell as much as 3.8%, while Brent crude traded at US$104.72 after a drop of more than 7% in the previous session.
Asian equities declined in early trading on Nov 3 as investors awaited voting in the US midterm elections. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index excluding Japan lost 0.9%, with South Korean stocks falling as much as 3.8%. Oil prices steadied following a sharp decline in the previous session.
The regional retreat followed a 0.5% fall in the S&P 500 overnight, when technology earnings weighed on sentiment. Apple lost 2.8% in after-hours trading after forecasting weaker gross margins for the holiday quarter because of higher memory-chip costs. Its projected services revenue growth also missed Wall Street expectations.
Brent crude was down 0.1% at US$104.72 after moving between gains and losses during Asian trading. Oil had dropped more than 7% on Monday as discussions involving Iranian and Qatari officials raised hopes that the US-Israeli war with Iran could end and Middle East crude supplies could stabilise. Westpac analysts attributed the decline to renewed diplomatic hopes reducing the geopolitical risk premium.
Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan's shares declined 1.3%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.3% and Australian equities rose 0.1%. Japan's markets were shut for a holiday. The Australian dollar held at US$0.70 ahead of a Reserve Bank of Australia decision, with a 25 basis points increase widely expected to lift the cash rate target to 4.85% from 4.6%.
