Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday after further discussions on trade between Washington and Beijing, and a rebound in US shares overnight. India's stocks tumbled and the rupee slumped after the surprise resignation of its central bank governor.
Benchmarks fell in Japan, fluctuated in South Korea and Hong Kong, and ticked higher in China. Shares climbed from intraday lows after a statement saying Chinese Vice Premier Liu He discussed the timetable for trade talks with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin by phone. US futures remained lower and Treasuries were little changed.
Earlier, the S&P 500 Index recovered from the lowest intraday level since April to finish higher. The dollar drifted and the yen pared some of Monday's losses. The pound stayed lower after a slump in the wake of UK Prime Minister Theresa May delaying a critical vote on Brexit.
"The message that you get from today's action and from Thursday and Friday is that you should expect more of this going forward," Alicia Levine, BNY Mellon Investment Management chief strategist, said on Bloomberg TV of trading in the US. "We are expecting volatility and we are expecting more large moves both to the upside and the downside," she said.
Traders may need to steel themselves for the possibility of the UK leaving the European Union without a deal, adding to a litany of concerns that have frayed sentiment, chief among them simmering trade tensions and clarity on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path in 2019.
On the trade front, a bail decision is pending for the jailed chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies Co. Her arrest last week roiled global markets by raising concerns over prospects for US-China talks.
In India, assets tumbled as investors reacted to the shock exit of the central bank Governor Urjit Patel and as early trends showed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party may face electoral losses in key states. The rupee slumped 1.6 per cent and the yield on India's benchmark 10-year bonds surged as much as 12 basis points to 7.71 per cent. The S&P BSE Sensex gauge of stocks declined 1 per cent.
Elsewhere, oil recovered slightly from its lowest in two weeks even as doubts grew about whether OPEC and its allies can deliver enough output cuts to head off a glut.
