Japan’s Nikkei 225 falls 1%; S&P 500 rises to record high close

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific fell in Tuesday morning trade despite gains overnight on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite touching fresh record closing highs.

The Nikkei 225 fell 1.03% in early trade while the Topix index shed 1.11%. South Korea’s Kospi also declined 0.17%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.31%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.06% lower.

The S&P 500 gained 0.23% overnight stateside to a fresh record closing high of 4,290.61.

Investors will also monitor technology shares in Asia-Pacific after the Nasdaq Composite on Wall Street rose 0.98% to a record closing high of 14,500.51.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, falling 150.57 points to 34,283.27.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.873 — struggling to recover to levels above 92.1 seen earlier in the month.

The Japanese yen traded at 110.54 per dollar, stronger than levels above 110.8 seen yesterday against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7568, still stronger than levels below $0.755 seen last week.

Oil prices were mildly lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping fractionally to $74.63 per barrel. U.S. crude futures sat below the flatline, trading at $72.89 per barrel.