CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks were trading mixed on Tuesday as geopolitical worries persisted and investors waited to hear comments from central bank policy makers.
North Korea's top diplomat said on Monday that a weekend tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump counted as a declaration of war and North Korea has the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. bombers, even in international space.
The yen stood tall amid rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea and spot gold held above the $1,300 level reached overnight while oil gave back some gains after rising more than 3 percent on Monday as Turkey threatened to shut down Kurdish crude shipments through its territory.
Japan's Nikkei index was down 20 points or 0.10 percent at 20,377 as the stronger yen weighed on exporters.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a news conference Monday that he will dissolve the lower house of parliament on Thursday and call a snap election for next month.
The minutes from the Bank of Japan's July monetary policy committee meeting showed that policymakers like to stick with their current policy framework despite the recent developments in consumer inflation being relatively weak.
Seoul shares were marginally lower, with tech stocks coming under heavy selling pressure after reports that Apple suppliers were asked to scale back shipments of parts for its upcoming iPhone X.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell over 2 percent, rival LG Electronics tumbled 3.2 percent and chipmaker SK Hynix lost 2.3 percent.
Australian shares held largely unchanged even as energy stocks rallied after oil prices jumped to their highest for more than two years on Monday.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was marginally lower while benchmark indexes in China and New Zealand were slightly higher in cautious trade.
Overnight, U.S. stocks declined, the dollar turned lower and Treasury yields fell as the war of words between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea escalated. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 slid around 0.2 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed as much as 0.9 percent.
European stocks closed mixed on Monday as investors digested a fractured election outcome in Germany and results from the French Senate vote.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2 percent. The German DAX finished marginally higher while France's CAC 40 index eased 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 percent.
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