Asian shares slip as investors eye inflation, earnings

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower Tuesday, as investors weighed oil prices, inflation worries and corporate earnings.

Tokyo’s benchmark was higher but other major indexes declined in morning trading after an early rally evaporated on Wall Street.

“The news paints a deteriorating picture for the outlook of major companies amid global growth fears. Traders will be paying close attention to the ongoing earnings season for further signs of how companies are faring in a weakening economy,” Anderson Alves, a trader at ActivTrades, said in a commentary.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 reversed early losses and added 0.7% in afternoon trading to 26,982.50. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6% to 6,645.70. South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.2% to 2,370.57. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.8% to 20,685.61, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% to 3,276.07.

Analysts said the Tokyo market is seeing some buying after a three-day weekend. Monday was a national holiday in Japan. Investors are playing catchup and so the rally may be short-lived. Among the issues picking up so far are Fast Retailing, the group company for the Uniqlo clothing retail chain, and Sony Corp.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 3,830.85. Gains in energy producers, big retailers and other companies that rely on consumer spending were outweighed by a pullback in health care and technology stocks.

The Dow slid 0.7% to 31,072.61 and the Nasdaq gave up 0.8%, to 11,360.05. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dropped 0.3% to 1,738.42.

Markets are likely to remain volatile through the upcoming earnings season. Johnson & Johnson, American Airlines and Tesla are among the dozens of S&P 500 companies scheduled to issue quarterly snapshots this week.

The U.S. market has been lurching mostly lower for...