Asia report: Markets turn red as investors rush to gold

Markets in Asia mostly finished in the red on Tuesday, as investors turned to safe havens while sentiment weakened.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.35% to 18,910.78, with the stronger yen dragging on domestic shares.

Toyota Motor watched its stock slide 2.26% to its lowest level since November, after the carmaker raised its operating profit expectations - but kept it short of market forecasts.

Toshiba shares were down 0.29% after it received a bid from South Korea’s SK Hynix for a portion of its memory chip arm.

It was planning to spin off the division and seek third party investment.

The yen turned sharply weaker against the greenback after hours, however, and was last off 0.64% at JPY 112.46 per $1.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.11% at 3,153.65, while the Shenzhen Composite was virtually flat at 1,927.17.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.12% to 2,075.21, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished 0.07% lower at 23,331.57.

In Seoul, SK Hynix lost 0.74% as it put forward its first bid to take a chunk of Toshiba’s memory chip division, which the Japanese technology firm was seeking to partially offload.

Safe haven plays were higher during the Asian session, with both spot gold and the yen appreciating.

“Investors are nervous about the economy and President Trump's policies,” noted BK Asset Management managing director of FX strategy Kathy Lien.

“Trump has been on a campaign to pressure other countries to strengthen their currency which effective means he wants the dollar to weaken.”

Oil prices were also higher during Asian trading before turning sour again during early Europe hours, with Brent crude last down 0.31% at $55.55 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate off 0.32% at $52.84.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 finished up 0.11% at 5,621.92, with the weighty financials subindex dragging on the benchmark’s gains as it fell 0.58%, and energy losing 0.22%.

Its gold subindex outperformed, however, gaining 3.88% on the back of the surge in prices for the safe haven metal.

The Reserve Bank of Australia met expectations as it stood pat on a record low official cash rate of 1.5% on Tuesday - and suggested in its statement that it could remain there for some time.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 lost 0.4% to settle at 7,067.05, led lower by online marketplace Trade Me - down 4.1% - while bricks-and-mortar retailer Warehouse Group was the best performer, adding 2.3%.

Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Graeme Wheeler, confirmed during the day that he was not seeking a second five-year term when his current tenure ends on 26 September - three days after the country’s national elections.

The down under dollars were both weaker against the greenback after Asian hours, with the Aussie last off 0.62% at AUD 1.3136 and the Kiwi losing 0.45% to NZD 1.3718 per $1.