Meanwhile, U.S. 10-year Treasury yields traded at 2.298 percent, below the 2.3 percent lower range band it had been trading at since last December.
“Traders are eyeing … whether the U.S. 10-year Treasury could close through 2.3 percent and the bottom of the multi-month trading range. That concern has materialized with the close at 2.29 percent, so it promises to be an interesting session ahead, where one suspects a more convincing break here takes the yield down to 2 percent,” IG’s Chris Weston said in a note.
The dollar/yen traded at 109.68 at 7:05 HK/SIN time, its lowest level in around 5 months after trading at the 111 level earlier in the week. The dollar traded at 100.71 against a basket of currencies, off the 3-week high set on Monday, while the Aussie was mostly flat at $0.7499.
Nikkei futures in Chicago were down 0.36 percent at 18,680 while futures in Osaka were 0.63 percent lower at 18,630 compared to Japan’s benchmark index close of 18,747.87. Australia SPI futures were higher by 0.11 percent at 5,936 against the ASX 200 close of 5,929.274.
Stateside, equities closed lower as investors continued to focus on geopolitical tensions in the Korean peninsula. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 0.03 percent or 6.72 points to close at 20,651.3, the S&P 500 was lower by 0.14 percent or 3.38 points to finish at 2,353.78 and the Nasdaq declined 0.24 percent or 14.15 points to finish at 5,866.77.
In corporate news, troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba filed results on Tuesday without a sign-off from its auditors, after twice-delaying the release in previous months. Toshiba also warned that future survival of the company was in doubt.
On the energy front, oil prices were higher after Saudi Arabia informed OPEC officials that it intends to continue output cuts for six more months, according to reports. Brent crude rose 25 cents to settle at $56.23 while U.S. crude rose 32 cents to settle at $53.40.
The rise in oil prices also comes after the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday that crude inventories had fallen by 1.3 million barrels in the week ending April 7, compared to the 87,000 barrel increase expected by analysts.
Economic data expected later in the day include Japan February machinery orders at 7:50 am HK/SIN time, while China is expected to report March CPI and PPI numbers at 9:30 am HK/SIN time. Singapore reports February retail sales figures later in the day.
