Asian stock markets waffled lower Tuesday, as traders weighed the lengthening impasse regarding an opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and rising oil prices.
Hong Kong and Shanghai finished in the red, while Tokyo trading floors were dark on holiday. Other regional exchanges were mixed.
Brent crude oil futures traded up 1.9% to $89.40 a barrel during Asian market hours.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly but dragged in trading, closing down 1.1% on soft property and tech issues.
The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 284.67 to 25,652.82, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 79 to 13. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.9% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.5%.
Leading the upside was state oil-giant CNOOC, gaining 3.6%, while Laopu Gold declined 8.5%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.8% to 3,934.09.
In other market news, mainland China humanoid robot-maker Unitree Robotics priced its IPO to raise $904 million, valuing the enterprise at $9 billion, while retail investors oversubscribed the offering by 5,500 times, reported the South China Morning Post.
On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.7%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.4%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 1%, and the Thai Set declined 0.7%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.5%.
In other news, the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.35%, marking the second consecutive policy session with no change.
The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 0.1%.