Asian Stocks Drift Lower Despite Yet Another Wall St Record

Asia stocks were mostly lower Tuesday despite yet another record close on Wall Street

HONG KONG, Aug 8, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 08th Aug, 2017 ) - Asia stocks were mostly lower Tuesday despite yet another record close on Wall Street, as investors set their sights on upcoming US inflation data for fresh clues on the American economy.

The Dow Jones eked out a ninth straight all-time high Monday, as strong second-quarter earnings continued to boost US equities, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq also advanced. But regional bourses paused for breath in light summer holiday trading, after recording healthy gains Monday on optimism over global growth triggered by a better-than-expected US jobs report for July.

In Tokyo a stronger Yen, which weighs on exporters' profits, helped nose Japanese equities down as the greenback gave up some ground secured after Friday's robust US jobs data. The Nikkei closed down 0.3 percent, also dragged down by tech giant SoftBank slipping into negative territory as it announced a dive in April-June net profit.

But Hong Kong continued a month-long advance as traders prepared for more earnings from heavyweights including China mobile.