Asian stocks fell on Tuesday, with China's shares falling the most as geopolitical tensions intensify with America. China's Shanghai index fell 1.82%. CSI 300 index fell a similar 1.87%. Traders cite reports of U.S. navy patrolling Spartly Islands in the South China Sea, defying China's exclusive claims to the islands and its surrounding waters.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.94%. Australia's S&P\ASX 200 fell 0.12%. Korea's KOSPI fell 0.49%. India's Nifty lost 0.32%.
U.S. indexes ended Monday with little movement. Dow Jones fell 0.13% to 17,623. S&P 500 lost 0.19% to 2,071. NASDAQ rose 0.06% to 5,034.
Yen kept up its strong performance as prospects of a BOJ easing dwindled, it rose for the second day against the dollar to 120.57. Against Euro it more than erased its Monday's losses, trading at 133.38. It rose to a five-day high against sterling at 185.11.
Dollar index lost 0.11% to 96.80. Dollar fell 0.06% against Euro to 1.1064. It eased back against Sterling for the second day, trading at 1.5353.
Crude oil was in a further downward pressure, with Brent futures for December falling 11 cents, or 0.23% to $47.32 a barrel. U.S. crude futures lost 46 cents, or 1.03% to $43.53 a barrel.
Spot gold lost $1.70, or 0.15% to $1,164.50 an ounce. Silver fell 6 cents, or 0.41% to $15.84 an ounce.
Investors will be waiting for Apple's results later today, crucial for determining the direction of global stocks this week. A survey for private loans in the Euro zone will also be released today, expected to have grown 1.1% in September y\y. missing the forecast would be bearish for Euro.
A preliminary GDP calculation of third quarter for Britain is expected to put it at a positive 0.6% q\q. Vital for sterling trading, coming at or beating forecasts will reassure investors of the state of the British economy.
From the U.S., Manufacturing orders for September are forecast to have stabilized m\m, opposed to falling 0.2% in August. Also from the U.S., A survey of consumer confidence is slated for today, forecast to come at 102.5 for the current month, easing down from 103 for September. Missing forecasts for both of these surveys will have negative impact on the dollar as it might force the Fed to delay hiking interest rates.