Japan Stocks fall on fear of Yuan-Slide Contagion

Headline indices of the Japan share market ended lower on Tuesday, 03 July 2018, after erasing initial gains, amid fears over an escalating US-China trade dispute and a rapid fall in the yuan which has sparked fears of contagion to emerging markets. Among TSE33 issues, 28 issues declined, with shares in Nonferrous Metals, Marine Transportation, Precision Instruments, Textiles & Apparels, Machinery, and Iron & Steel issues being notable losers. At the close, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.12%, or 26.39 points, to 21,785.54. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 0.15%, or 2.49 points, to 1,692.80.

Share indexes in Tokyo came off their morning highs after China's currency tumbled past 6.7 per dollar, a level that some had thought would trigger intervention from authorities. Tokyo stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors bought back issues on dips following the market closing sharply lower a day earlier.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen slightly depreciated to the upper 110 yen zone against greenback on Tuesday. The dollar was quoted at 110.87-88 yen compared with 110.85-95 yen in New York and 110.73-74 yen on Monday in Tokyo.

OFFSHORE MARKET: U.S. stocks turned higher in the final hour of trading Monday, 02 July 2018, as a rebound in technology shares helped to offset ongoing uncertainty surrounding trade policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%. The S&P 500 ended 0.3% higher. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8%.

COMMODITIES: Crude oil prices rose in Tuesday after declines Monday triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump putting pressure on Saudi Arabia to ramp up oil output.

Crude oil prices declined on Monday as a fall in U.S. supplies at a key delivery hub failed to offset concerns over a ramp up in Russian and Saudi output. Meanwhile a tweet from U.S. President Trump on Saturday, claiming that Saudi Arabia's King Salman had agreed to raise oil output by up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) also knocked oil prices. On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for August delivery fell 21 cents, to settle at $73.94 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent lost 0.5% to trade at $78.86 a barrel.

Crude oil prices surged to highest level in three and half years in June 2018 as unexpected disruptions in Canada, Libya and Venezuela have raised investor expectations that global oil demand would outstrip supply, keeping oil prices elevated.

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