HONG KONG/WASHINGTON: Asian stocks reversed earlier gains on Tuesday, dragged down by declines in Chinese markets, which were jolted by a new round of sanctions, after ebbing inflation fears had helped shore up broader sentiment in the region.
The United States and others, including the European Union, sanctioned Chinese officials on Monday over human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and Beijing hit back with punitive measures against European lawmakers, diplomats, institutes and families. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index also fell 1.62per cent, with traders' attention drawn by a tepid market debut for Baidu in which the Chinese tech giant's shares barely traded above their secondary listing price.
"The FOMC last week laid out pretty clearly what the Fed's view is with regard to rates... the next thing that markets will focus on is maybe getting some details from Yellen with regard to further infrastructure investment," said Alex Wolf head of investment strategy for Asia at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, referring to a statement from the Federal Open Market Committee.