Mainland Chinese stocks lead losses in Asia amid continued investor caution over Russia-Ukraine war

SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Tuesday, with mainland Chinese stocks leading losses regionally the Russia-Ukraine war continued weighing on investor sentiment.

Mainland China's Shanghai composite fell 2.35% to close at 3,293.53 while the Shenzhen component fell 2.616% to 12,244.50. The CSI 300 index, which tracks the largest mainland-listed stocks, shed 2.01% to 4,265.39.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong, which led losses among the region's major markets on Monday, continued declining as it slipped 1.71% as of its final hour of trading.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 1.71% to 24,790.95 — its lowest close since early Nov. 2020 — while the Topix index shed 1.9% to 1,759.86. South Korea's Kospi dipped 1.09%, finishing the trading day at 2,622.40.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.83% to close at 6,980.30.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 1.76% lower.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 dropped 2.95% to 4,201.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 797.42 points, or 2.37%, to 32,817.38. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lagged, falling 3.62% to 12,830.96.

The losses on Wall Street came as investors continue to monitor the potential economic hit of disruptions in the global energy supply as the Russia-Ukraine war continues.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.296 after touching an earlier low of 99.049.

The Japanese yen traded at 115.40 per dollar, following yesterday's weakening from below 115 against the greenback. The Australian dollar was at $0.7274 after recently declining from above $0.736, shedding some of its gains from last week.