Asian shares fell on Tuesday, following losses on Wall Street after US stocks retreated from record highs.
Oil prices fell after rising earlier due to escalating tensions in the war between the US and Iran. US futures rose 0.1%.
Regional trading was weak, with markets in Japan, South Korea and mainland China closed for holidays.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3% to 25,757.56, while Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.3%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4% to 8,659.90 after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.35%, saying the conflict in the Middle East had pushed up fuel and commodity prices that were already contributing to inflation. Tuesday’s interest rate hike was the Reserve Bank of Australia’s highest percentage point increase in the third quarter of this year.
The bank said inflation in Australia for the year to March was 4.6%. The Bank manipulates interest rates to steer inflation towards a target range of 2% to 3%.
India’s Sensex lost 0.7%.
The fragile truce between the US and Iran was tested on Monday after the US military said it had sunk six small Iranian ships that were targeting civilian vessels, while two US-flagged ships successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz, SEEbiz reports.
The key waterway for transporting oil and gas remains largely closed despite repeated US demands that Iran reopen the strait and after the United States imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. US President Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom” plan, under which the United States would help guide stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz, began on Monday.
