TOKYO — Asian shares retreated on Tuesday even as most US stock indexes ended higher, especially tech stocks such as Nvidia.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% to 38,980.60. The Australian S&The P/ASX 200 lost 0.2% to 7,848.00. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.8% to 2,720.90. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.1% to 19,233.87, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.4% to 3,157.33.
In Asia, investors are focused on signals about the health of the Chinese economy. S&P Global Market Intelligence raised its growth forecast for this year to 4.8% from 4.7% in April, but stressed it was not overly optimistic.
“The overall outlook for a tepid economic recovery remains unchanged, with expansion supported by strengthened policy incentives, strengthening external demand and gradually improving private sector confidence,” the report said.
Monday on Wall Street, the S&The P500 rose 0.1% to 5,308.13, coming within 0.02 of last week's record high. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.7% to 16,794.87, setting its own all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 39,806.77 in early trading after closing above 40,000 for the first time on Friday.
Norwegian Cruise Line helped lead the market, posting a 7.6% increase after providing financial forecasts for the year that exceeded analyst expectations. It said demand for cruises is growing, with some of its competitors posting gains in its wake. Carnival rose 7.3% and Royal Caribbean Group gained 4.1%.
All three major U.S. stock indexes set records last week, largely on renewed hopes that the Federal Reserve will be able to cut rates this year as inflation hopefully cools. More reports showing major U.S. companies making bigger profits than expected also boosted stock prices.
The week ahead will see few top-tier economic reports like last week's headliner, which showed inflation could finally be heading back in the right direction after a discouraging start to the year. But there are some potentially market-moving corporate earnings reports on the agenda.
On top of all this is Nvidia, whose rocket ride amid a frenzy surrounding artificial intelligence technology has been a major reason for the S&The profit of the P500 over the past year. It will announce its latest quarterly results on Wednesday and expectations are high. Analysts predict revenue will have more than tripled to $24.59 billion from a year earlier.
The stock rose 2.5%, bringing year-to-date gains to 91.4%.
Several retailers are also scheduled to attend, including Lowe's on Tuesday, Target on Wednesday and Ross Stores on Thursday. They could provide more detail on how well U.S. household spending is holding up. The pressure on them has increased amid still high inflation, even if not as bad as before, and the cracks seem most visible among the lowest-income customers.
Yields were slightly higher on the bond market. The yield on the 10-year government bond rose to 4.44% from 4.42% at the end of Friday. The two-year yield, which better tracks expectations of Fed action, rose to 4.84% from 4.83%.
The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its latest meeting on Wednesday, where it once again left its key interest rate at the highest level in more than two decades. The hope is that the Fed can manage the delicate balancing act of grinding the economy through high interest rates just enough to get inflation under control, but not so much that it triggers a painful recession.
Traders expect the Fed to cut its key interest rate at least once this year with an 88% probability, according to data from CME Group.
In other trading, U.S. crude fell 58 cents to $79.22 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 48 cents to $83.23 a barrel. Some gains had previously been made after the death of the Iranian president in a helicopter crash.
The US dollar rose from 156.27 yen to 156.38 Japanese yen. The euro cost $1.0862, compared to $1.859.
