HK stocks slip amid Iran war fears

Stocks in Hong Kong fell on Tuesday, as US-Iran tensions escalated following the expiration of a truce. The Hang Seng Index opened lower by 0.33%, at 25,368 points, and then dropped to 25,255 points, a 0.78% decline. Tech and China enterprises indices also experienced losses, with the Hang Seng and China Enterprises Indexes down 0.28% and 0.29%, respectively.

The Shanghai Composite Index started the day down by 0.1%, at 3,979 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index fell by 0.1%, reaching 14,692 points. The ChiNext Index declined by 0.25%, at 3,730 points. In Tokyo, the Nikkei Index opened at 68,847 points, gaining 0.54% before losing 0.54% to 68,363 points. The Kospi in Seoul edged down 1.5% at 7,082 points and then climbed 1.5% to the same level.

US 10-year Treasury bond yields rose 0.8 basis points to 4.728%, while its 30-year counterpart increased by 0.6 basis points to 5.3146%. These moves contrast with the expected response from the Trump administration, which had hoped for an end to the Iran conflict. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield surged 2.5 basis points to a 30-year high of 2.945%.

Wall Street suffered a slight decline, with the S&P 500 dropping 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite falling 0.3%. The US dollar index hit a two-month low due to the ongoing Middle East tensions, and oil prices rose above $91 a barrel amidst supply concerns.