Asian stocks displayed a mixed performance on Tuesday, mirroring a global market cautiously navigating election anxieties and rising US bond yields. While US futures dipped and oil prices climbed, the Japanese market benefited. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 surged 1.1 per cent to 40,062.42, fuelled by a weaker yen hovering near a fresh 38-year low of 161.66 yen to the dollar. This enticed buying of export-oriented shares. Elsewhere in Asia, the picture was less rosy. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4 per cent to 7,719.30, and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.9 per cent to 2,778.32 despite data revealing a slowdown in consumer inflation to an 11-month low in June. Hong Kong's markets, returning from a holiday break, saw a positive swing. The Hang Seng climbed 0.6 per cent to 17,819.50, while the Shanghai Composite index remained nearly flat at 2,995.78. Other regional markets displayed a similar lack of uniformity. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.6 per cent, while Thailand's SET index dipped 0.6 per cent. Looking back, US markets closed with modest gains on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent to 5,475.09, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 per cent to 39,169.52, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8 per cent to 17,879.30. In Paris, the CAC 40 index surged, reaching a high of 2.8 per cent before settling at a 1.1 per cent gain. In other news, US crude increased by 12 cents to $83.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose by 19 cents to $86.79 a barrel. Attribution: AP
