Asian stock markets opened lower on Tuesday, with South Korea posting the steepest decline, as investors braced for a week heavy with US corporate earnings and economic data.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.20 percent at the open, while the Topix was flat. In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 3.29 percent and the Kosdaq fell 2.49 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.33 percent.
Earnings season in focus
Investors were waiting on results from JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, along with UnitedHealth, all due before the US market opened on Tuesday local time. Analysts polled by FactSet expect S&P 500 companies to post earnings growth of nearly 30 percent year on year.
Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise, said three industry groups are likely to shape how investors read this earnings season: banking, to gauge the health of consumers and businesses; large technology companies, on monetisation of artificial intelligence; and the energy sector, on whether profits supported by oil prices can hold. He said investors will also watch consumer and corporate conditions amid higher interest rates, rising costs and concerns about the macroeconomic outlook.
Fed speeches and data ahead
US existing home sales data and remarks from Federal Reserve officials Christopher Waller, Tom Barkin and Susan Collins were due Tuesday, with September inflation figures expected later in the week. US Treasury yields have recently hit their highest level in decades.
The US bond market was closed Monday for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up more than 195 points, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both closed lower.
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Source: Federal Reserve
