Stocks in Asia slid on Tuesday while oil prices eased but remained well above $100 a barrel, as the U.S. and Iran continue to work towards a truce while at the same time trading blows over the Strait of Hormuz.
Traders also had their eyes on the yen JPY= after the Japanese currency briefly jumped in the previous session, stoking speculation of another round of intervention from Tokyo.
Markets in Japan, mainland China and Korea were closed for holiday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng scaled back 197.23 points, or 0.8%, 25,898.61.
The U.S. and Iran launched new attacks in the Gulf on Monday as they wrestled for control over the Strait of Hormuz with dueling maritime blockades, not long after U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new effort to get stranded tankers and other ships through the vital energy-trade chokepoint.
Maersk said the Alliance Fairfax, a U.S.-flagged vehicle carrier operated by its Farrell Lines subsidiary, exited the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by U.S. military assets on Monday.
Still, the renewed hostilities jolted markets and served as a stark reminder that the war in the Middle East was far from over.
The yen was last steady at 157.22 per dollar, after Monday’s short-lived surge that saw the Japanese currency touch an intraday high of 155.69.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Monday spoke out about against speculative trading in foreign exchange, leaving market participants on alert for further intervention after sources told Reuters Tokyo intervened to prop up its ailing currency on Thursday.
In other currencies, the Australian dollar eased 0.06% to $0.7163 U.S. ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision later in the day, where a hike is widely expected.
Elsewhere, spot gold rose 0.2% to $4,529.19 an ounce, trading well within recent ranges.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex was higher 64.15 points, or 0.2%, to 40,769.29.
In Singapore, the Straits Times 50 index slid 3.7 points, or 0.1%, to 4,920.61.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 61.98 points, or 0.5%, to 13,035.70.
In Australia, the AZX 200 sagged 16.65 points, or 0.2%, to 8,680.45.
