- Asian stocks were under pressure Tuesday after Wall Street equities made marginal gains ahead of the July 4th holiday.
- The benchmark indexes for Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea all fell. Equities in Australia were flat ahead of an interest-rate decision.
- The S&P 500 gained 0.1% in a shortened session Monday that ended at lunchtime. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.2% on a day when manufacturing data showed a slowdown.
- In Asian trading, US equity futures were marginally lower, while currencies remained stable.
- The offshore yuan rose slightly after the People's Bank of China increased its efforts to stabilise the currency by raising the daily reference rate to a higher-than-expected level. The yen gained ground.
- Economists and traders are split on whether the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise or pause interest rates on Tuesday. The Australian dollar rose after three days of modest gains. Yields on three-year government bonds in the United States rose four basis points to around 4%.
