Asian markets were broadly lower on Tuesday afternoon, following Wall Street down after a turbulent day on Monday. The declines were prompted by concerns about global grown and the lingering tension between China and the United States. All three major Wall Street indexes closed lower on Monday, and all major Asian indexes were lower on Tuesday, except for China’s two benchmarks, the Shenzhen Composite and the Shanghai Composite, which were 0.71 percent and 0.26 percent higher respectively, as of 1:51 p.m. HK/SIN.
On Tuesday Beijing lowered its growth target for 2019 from 6.5 percent to 6.0 percent and introduced additional economic stimuli including tax cuts and reductions in social security fees. Also announced were increases in infrastructure spending and lending to small businesses. The announced stimulus plans were directly responsible for supporting China’s benchmarks. Beijing announced a target deficit of 2.8 percent of GDP, up from 2.6 percent in 2018.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.60 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.69 percent in the early afternoon. Australia’s NSX 200 was 0.29 percent lower, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down a modest 0.04 percent.
Currency Movements
The dollar strengthened on Tuesday, trading near two-week highs. It was supported by a strong economy and concerns about the upcoming European Central Bank policy meeting on Thursday. The euro eased against most of its primary trading partners, slumping 0.09 percent against the dollar to $1.1327 and 0.05 percent against the Swiss franc, to 1.1316. The euro hit an 11-day low on Monday, falling to $1.1309 against the dollar before rebounding slightly.
The dollar index held at 96.74 .DXY, up 0.06 percent, as the greenback strengthened against the yen, up 0.15 percent to 111.91. It gained the same amount against the Canadian dollar, to trade at $1.332.