Asian shares mostly fall on Tuesday, with Japan and Hong Kong leading the downturn. Investors adopted a cautious stance as a looming U.S. tariff deadline approaches, and major central bank decisions from both the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve are anticipated this week. Investor focus now turned to resumed trade talks between the US and China, following the recently announced US-EU trade agreement, that imposes a 15% tariff on most EU exports. The agreement follows a similar pact with Japan. US President Donald Trump also reiterated on Monday that countries unwilling to negotiate separate trade deals could soon face tariffs of 15% to 20%, significantly above the 10% headline rate imposed in April. Gold hovered around $3,310 per ounce on Tuesday, near a three-week low, as signs of easing trade tensions and a stronger US dollar. Japan ( NKY:IND ) fell 1.02% to below 40,700, while the broader Topix Index declined 0.8% to 2,908 on Tuesday, marking a third straight session of losses for Japanese equities. The Japanese yen hovered around 148.3 per dollar on Tuesday, holding near one-week lows after a sharp three-day decline, pressured by broad dollar strength. On the domestic front, the Bank of Japan is set to announce its latest policy decision this week. China ( SHCOMP ) fell 0.02% to around 3,595, while the Shenzhen Component dropped 0.5% to 11,160 on Tuesday, reversing the previous session’s gains as investors turned cautious ahead of developments in the US-China trade talks underway in Stockholm, and the offshore yuan stabilized to around 7.18 per dollar on Tuesday, following two consecutive sessions of losses. The negotiations entered their second day, with both sides aiming to extend a fragile trade truce by another 90 days ahead of the August 12 deadline. China has introduced a yearly childcare subsidy of CNY 3,600 for children under three to encourage childbirth and ease parenting costs amid a declining birth rate. Domestically, fiscal attention remains on the rollout of special bonds, with 231 billion yuan already allocated to support the consumer goods trade-in program and the remaining issuance expected in October, Hong Kong ( HSI ) fell 1.00% to 25,277 in early trade Tuesday, pulling back from Monday’s gains as all sectors were in the red. India ( SENSEX ) fell 0.22% to 80,802 in morning trade on Tuesday, hitting its lowest level since early June. The Nifty 50 also dropped below 24,700 amid sustained foreign outflows, disappointing Q1 earnings, and a lack of progress on a US-India interim trade deal ahead of a looming deadline. Australia ( AS51 ) rose 0.05% to 8,655 on Tuesday, reversing gains from the previous session as optimism surrounding trade deals began to fade. The Australian dollar In the U.S., on Monday, all three major indexes ended mixed as investors digested a new US-EU trade agreement and looked ahead to a busy week filled with earnings reports and key economic data. Sentiment was further weighed by caution ahead of key U.S. events this week, including the Fed’s rate decision and inflation readings. U.S. stock futures held steady on Tuesday following a mixed performance on Wall Street to start the week: Dow +0.15% ; S&P 500 +0.15% ; Nasdaq +0.23% . Investors also looked ahead to earnings from major tech names including Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon. Currencies: ( JPY:USD ), ( CNY:USD ), ( AUD:USD ), ( INR:USD ), ( HKD:USD ), ( NZD:USD ). More on Asia: Trump says U.S. strikes ‘massive’ trade deal with Japan, imposes 15% tariffs Japan vows more rice imports from U.S. as part of trade deal Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba to step down RBA holds rates steady, citing unclear inflation picture in July minutes Japan's core inflation eases to 3.3% in June, slowest pace since March
