SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific declined in Tuesday morning trade, following heavy losses for the major indexes overnight stateside as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to keep investors on edge.
South Korea’s Kospi led losses regionally, falling 1.55% in early trade. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.9% while the Topix index shed 0.82%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.15%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.26% lower.
Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 dropped 2.95% to 4,201.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 797.42 points, or 2.37%, to 32,817.38. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lagged, falling 3.62% to 12,830.96.
The losses on Wall Street came as investors continue to monitor the potential economic hit of disruptions in the global energy supply as the Russia-Ukraine war continues.
Amid the lingering uncertainty, oil prices have spiked momentarily to their highest levels since July 2008.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.293 following recent turbulence that saw it trading between 99.4 and 98.7.
The Japanese yen traded at 115.39 per dollar, following yesterday’s weakening from below 115 against the greenback. The Australian dollar was at $0.7329 after recently declining from above $0.736, shedding some of its gains from last week.