Asian shares mostly lower, trading in a narrow range with US markets closed for Memorial Day
May 26, 2025, 8:04 PM | Updated: May 27, 2025, 12:30 am
Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Tuesday, trading in a narrow range after U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
U.S. futures were and oil prices slipped. Data on consumer confidence and housing prices were due out later on Tuesday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% to 37,451.60 after the governor of the central bank said he anticipated raising interest rates in coming months due to inflationary pressures.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said in a speech that Japan was facing pressure from rising food prices, with rice prices doubling in the past year. Inflation in Japan is now higher than in the U.S. or Europe and above the BOJ’s target level.
But the central bank also has to take into account trade policies, he said without directly mentioning U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes, that complicate its goal of raising its very low benchmark interest rate of 0.5%.
鈥淲e are now closer to the target than at any time during the last three decades, though we are not quite there. Our recent path has been affected in a unique way by supply shocks,鈥 Ueda said.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 23,359.94, while the Shanghai Composite index was little changed, at 3,346.48.
In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.4% to 2,632.93.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 held steady at 8,359.20 and Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.6%.
In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 23 cents to $61.30 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 20 cents to $63.92 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 142.23 Japanese yen from 142.85 yen. The euro rose to $1.1403 from $1.1388.
The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.9% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.8%.
On Monday, European shares closed higher and U.S. futures surged after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would delay a threatened 50% tariff on goods from the European Union to July 9.
Germany鈥檚 DAX added 1.5% to 23,977.83 and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 1% to 7,810.49. Markets were closed in Britain for a holiday.
The impact on markets from U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 decision to delay a threatened 50% tariff on imports from the European Union was relatively muted as investors are growing inured to such policy changes, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
鈥淚nvestors know this act by heart,鈥 Innes wrote. 鈥淭he volatility is still there, but like a horror franchise on its fifth sequel, the jump scares are losing their bite. Panic-selling into a Trump pirouette doesn鈥檛 pay like it used to 鈥 markets have seen this dance before.鈥
The European Union鈥檚 chief trade negotiator said Monday he had 鈥済ood calls鈥 with Trump administration officials and that the EU was 鈥渇ully committed鈥 to reaching a trade deal by the July 9 deadline.
Just last week, Trump had said on social media that trade talks with the European Union 鈥渨ere going nowhere鈥 and that 鈥渟traight 50%鈥 tariffs could go into effect on June 1.
On Friday, U.S. stocks fell as traders weighed whether Trump鈥檚 latest threats were just negotiating tactics.
The S&P 500 lost 0.7% to end its worst week in the last seven. The Dow dropped 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite sank 1%.