Asia-Pacific stocks mixed as oil jumps; Reserve Bank of Australia rate decision ahead

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Tuesday morning trade as investors look ahead to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest rate decision.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1% while the Topix index shed 0.35%.

South Korea’s Kospi edged fractionally lower. Elsewhere, Australia stocks rose as the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.76%.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore’s Straits Times index climbed 0.34%. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.15% higher.

Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours on Tuesday, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 1.54% to $109.19 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 1.55% to $104.88 per barrel.

Oil prices jumped on Monday as investors braced for the prospect of more Western sanctions on Russia following allegations of civilian massacres near Ukrainian towns.

The European Union’s new sanctions on Russia are likely to include steel, luxury, jet fuel and more, sources told CNBC. The bloc, however, remains divided over whether to extend those sanctions to energy imports.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia is set to announce its latest interest rate decision at 12:30 p.m. HK/SIN on Tuesday.

Ahead of that decision the Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7539, following yesterday’s jump from below $0.75.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 0.81% to 4,582.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 103.61 points, or 0.3%, to 34,921.88. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed, surging 1.9% to 14,532.55.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.967 after a recent climb from below 98.6.

The Japanese yen traded at 122.55 per dollar, weaker as compared with levels below 122 seen against the greenback last week.