Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Tuesday as investors dismissed fresh doubts about the fragile US-Iran truce after President Donald Trump warned the truce was on “massive life support”.
Trump on Monday cast doubt on the survival of the US-Iran truce, saying the fragile truce was actually “on life support” after Tehran gave what he described as an unacceptable response to Washington’s proposal to end the conflict.
“I would say the truce is on massive life support, where the doctor comes in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has about a 1% chance of survival,’” he said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.52%, while the Topix rose 0.89%. South Korea’s Kospi pared early losses to fall 1.95% after hitting a new record high on Monday. Small-cap Kosdaq fell more than 1.99%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.24%.
Yields on Japan’s 10-year government bonds hit their highest level since 1997, rising to 2.545% after minutes from a Bank of Japan meeting revealed that some board members said the BOJ should raise interest rates soon, SEEbiz reports.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.30%, while the CSI 300 fell 0.31%. India’s Nifty 50 fell 0.77%.
Despite rising geopolitical tensions, higher oil prices and lingering inflation concerns, global stocks continued to rise, underscoring what Jordan Rizzuto, CIO of GammaRoad Capital Partners, describes as a “show me” market, one in which investors are increasingly reluctant to react to risks unless they materially disrupt economic or corporate fundamentals.
After weathering the pandemic, rising inflation, aggressive interest rate hikes and fears of tariffs in recent years, investors have become conditioned to buy into market weakness instead of retreating from it, he wrote in a note on Tuesday.
