Yahoo Finance Asian Equities Rebound Despite U.S.-Saudi Tension Over Khashoggi
Investing.com - Asian equities rebounded in morning trade on Tuesday, although escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi capped gains.
Saudi journalist and royal critic Khashoggi went missing after he was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain a document for tying the knot with his Turkish fiancée, according to various reports earlier this month.
U.S. President Donald Trump has sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Saudi Arabia over the case.
"The focus of the markets has turned to the Middle East due to the Saudi incident. And with U.S. stocks still struggling, other equity markets will have a difficult time bouncing convincingly," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo.
"The United States has been the epicentre of the recent market tumult, with Wall Street shares being hit by higher Treasury yields. U.S. shares will have to find their feet first," he added.
Oil prices were in focus as markets assess the potential impact the fallout could have on the crude markets.
Crude Oil WTI Futures for November delivery gained 0.1% to $71.86 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent Oil Futures for December delivery rose 0.32% to $81.04 a barrel on London’s Intercontinental Exchange.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component rose 0.2% and 0,9% respectively by 9:58 PM ET (01:58 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also inched up 0.1%.
Third-quarter GDP for China is expected to take centre stage later this week, as headline growth is expected to slow to 6.6% year-on-year from 6.7%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4%. Shares of Softbank Corp. (T:9984) rebounded in morning trade after plunging more than 7% on Monday over concerns of the company’s ties to Saudi Arabia, as it provided nearly half the money for SoftBank's $93 billion tech-focused Vision Fund, according to Reuters.
South Korea’s KOSPI was little changed at 2,146.00.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 traded 0.6% higher.
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