· European markets were mixed on Tuesday morning, as investors awaited the release of corporate earnings while keeping an eye on the euro, which hovered near a three-year peak.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 opened little changed shortly after the opening bell, with sectors and major bourses pointing in opposite directions.
· Asian shares erased early modest losses and pushed to a fresh record high, while the euro remained within sight of a 3-year peak on rising expectations that the European Central Bank could pare its monetary stimulus.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.5 percent, extending record highs set in the previous session.
· Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to its highest level since late 1991 on Tuesday, as a firmer dollar supported exporter stocks and expectations for strong corporate earnings bolstered investor sentiment.
The Nikkei ended 1 percent higher at 23,951.81 after reaching an intraday peak of 23,962.07, its highest since November 1991. The index had slipped to as low as23,588.07 on Friday when the dollar took a steep dive versus its Japanese peer.
· China stocks rallied on Tuesday, with the blue-chip index closing at a 30-month high, led by a surge in real estate firms, even as a poll backed expectations that growth in the Asian economic powerhouse will slow in 2018.
China’s economy is expected to cool this year as a government-led crackdown on debt risks and factory pollution drag on overall activity, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 27.00 points or 0.79 percent at 3,437.48.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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