Investing.com - Asian shares were narrowly mixed on Tuesday with sentiment slightly downbeat on growing expectations of a Fed rate hike this month.
The S&P/ASX 200 returned to the green after a negative start, to trade up 0.36% as the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest interest rate decision held steady as expected.
The Nikkei 225 was down 0.15%, extending Monday's losses, while in South Korea, the Kospi advanced 0.5% after the special prosecutor's office said that South Korea President Park geun-hye colluded with a friend to take bribes from Samsung (KS:005930) Group, aimed at cementing Samsung Chief Jay Y. Lee's control of the country's largest conglomerate, Reuters reported.
The Shanghai composite slipped 0.07%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.38%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Financials, Basic Materials and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.24%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.33%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.37%.
The he prospect of a March rate hike weighed while snap sank 12% on its third day of trade.
U.S. equities traded in negative territory throughout the session, as the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting on March 14-15 hit its highest level on Monday while a fresh batch geopolitical concerns weighed on upside momentum.
According to Investing.com’s Fed rate monitor tool, nearly 90% of traders expect a rate hike in March, compared to just under 80% last Friday.
Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of wiretapping him during the 2016 election campaign while North Korea conducted missile tests early Monday, which reduced investors’ appetite for risk. On the economic data front, better than expected U.S. factory orders data for January had little impact on markets.
The commerce Department said on Monday, factory goods orders rose 1.2% after an unrevised 1.3% jump in December. Economists had forecast factory orders advancing 1.0% in January.