Sydney Building take from Cremorne Point.
This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets fell Tuesday, with investors exercising caution even as U.S. stocks continued their postelection rally, with key benchmarks closing at record highs.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 2.76%, while mainland China's CSI 300 shed 1.1% to end at 4,085.74. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.13% lower at 8,255.6. South Korea's Kospi fell by 1.94% to close at 2,482.57, while the Kosdaq Index dropped 2.51% to 710.52.
Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% to close at 39,376.09. The Topix ended the trading day around the flatline at 2,741.52.
Traders in Asia-Pacific also assessed economic data from the region, including a survey from the National Australia Bank on business conditions and Indonesia's September retail sales.
India will be reporting its consumer price index reading for October, and oil cartel OPEC will release its monthly oil market report later in the day.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 300 points on Monday and closed at a record high as the benchmark's postelection rally pressed forward.
Money Report
The 30-stock Dow gained 304 points, or 0.69%, to 44,293.69. It's rise brought the index above 44,000 for the first time. The S&P 500 added 0.1% to end the day at 6,001.35, also a record close. However, the Nasdaq Composite hovered near the flatline, up 0.06% to 19,298.76.
Bitcoin surged above $87,000, boosted by hopes of deregulation as well. Crypto related stocks Coinbase and Mara Holdings rallied 20% and 30%, respectively.
—CNBC's Brian Evans and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
Softbank expected to see over 100% growth in second quarter profit
Softbank Group is expected to announce a profit of 286.8 billion yen ($1.86 billion) for the second quarter, which ended September, marking an over 100% year-on-year growth, according to LSEG SmartEstimate.
Previously in its fiscal first quarter ended in June, the Japanese technology investor company booked a 1.9 billion yen ($12.9 million) investment gain on its Vision Fund tech investment arm.
Softbank Group's shares have seen a 52.19% surge year-to-date.
—Lee Ying Shan
Markets are 'very misplaced' in their assessment of China stimulus, UBS says
Markets are "very misplaced in terms of looking at China stimulus," Shamaila Khan, UBS Asset Management's head of fixed income for emerging markets told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."
She said that investors are looking for a big number, but instead, China has been consistently applying stimulus in a slow and measured fashion, which represents stability and support.
This could provide significant upside to Chinese bonds, she said, adding that "We want them to be consistent in applying stimulus, which ... is the right way to do stimulus."
— Lim Hui Jie
Australia's consumer sentiment grows for a second consecutive month in November
Australian consumer sentiment saw a jump by 5.3% in November, according to a survey by the Westpac-Melbourne Institute index.
This compares to October, which saw a 6.2% climb. Australia's consumers are now more confident about the economic outlook, seeing some further easing in family financial pressures and no longer concerned about risks of further interest rate hikes, said Westpac's head of Australian macro-forecasting, Matthew Hassan.
"The consumer recovery gained more traction through October-November but the survey detail suggests some of this momentum has been checked by renewed uncertainty following the U.S. election," Hassan added.
Australian business confidence in October rose to its highest since early 2023, data from LSEG showed. The volatile index advanced from -2 in September to +5 in October. The country's business conditions remained steady at +7 in the same month.
—Lee Ying Shan
CNBC Pro: What Trump's election victory means for global investors
President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House has sent ripples through global financial markets, with many investors looking to recalibrate their portfolios for a dramatically different policy landscape ahead.
The Republican sweep of the presidency and, potentially, both houses of Congress has triggered what analysts call the return of "Trump trades" — but with key differences to 2016 that could reshape the investment outlook.
Wall Street banks have digested the potential impact of Trump's win on U.S. bonds, Asian and European stocks, and currencies and what lies ahead for investors.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
CNBC Pro: Want to cash in on China's stimulus? Here's what the pros expect next
Chinese markets are back in the spotlight after a slew of government stimulus measures over recent weeks.
Friday's news of a five-year 10 trillion Chinese yuan ($1.4 trillion) debt swap program disappointed investors, however, falling short of calls for more direct support for the economy.
For many market participants — including Pella Funds' Jordan Cvetanovski — this means taking a longer view when it comes to investing in the Asian powerhouse.
"The markets are always impatient. They want to see a big sugar high immediately, and they want to see a big bazooka ... However, as we've discovered over many years, the Chinese government ... does things in a more measured fashion," he said.
As investors ponder how to navigate the Chinese market, Bernstein named a number of stock opportunities.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Amala Balakrishner
Another milestone for iShares Bitcoin ETF
The postelection rally for crypto has taken out another milestone for bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
As of Friday, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) now has more assets under management than the iShares Gold Trust (IAU), according to FactSet. The bitcoin fund's lead over its gold counterpart should expand once the weekend's move in bitcoin is factored in to the ETF data.
IBIT, which launched in January, is the biggest of the so-called spot bitcoin ETFs. It is still around half the size of the biggest gold ETF, the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD).
The bitcoin ETF was up about 6% in morning trading Monday.
— Jesse Pound
Powell was prepared to contest effort to remove him as Fed chair, report says
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was prepared to fight any efforts that former President Donald Trump might have launched to remove the central bank leader from his position, The Wall Street Journal reported.
To do so, Powell likely would have had to use his own money as the Fed may not have standing to address such a challenge, the report added. The question arose after multiple public statements Trump had made condemning Powell and his colleagues during Trump's first term in office.
There have been no indications so far that Trump has any inkling to remove Powell, though he has indicated that he thinks the president should be consulted on Fed rate decisions. At a news conference last week, Powell was asked about the possibility that he could be removed, to which he responded it is "not permitted under the law."
— Jeff Cox
Gold futures slip to start the week
Gold ticked down on Monday and hovered near a roughly one-month low.
Gold futures lost 2.3% to about $2,633, the lowest level since Oct. 10 when bullion traded as low as $2,618.8
— Brian Evans, Gina Francolla
