A pedestrian and jogger pass the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) building, during a partial lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus, in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, May 18, 2020.
David Gray | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were largely lower on Tuesday, tracking moves on Wall Street after the S&P 500 erased earlier gains that brought the benchmark index to trade at its highest level on an intraday basis in nine months.
Markets are “catching their breath after Friday’s broad-based rally,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at the Carson Group. “It’s a very lackluster news day, which isn’t a bad thing as we consolidate some of those big recent gains we’ve had.”
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.67% down ahead of the country’s central bank rate decision. The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hold rates at 3.85%, according to a Reuters poll.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 bucked the trend and continues its run above the 32,000 mark, gaining 0.18%, although the Topix was marginally lower.
The last time the Nikkei traded at these levels, Japan was in the middle of its bubble economy — a period from 1986 to 1991 where real estate prices and stock prices were hugely inflated. The Nikkei reached its all-time high of just above 38,900 in December 1989.
South Korea’s markets are closed Tuesday for a holiday.
