- Israeli jets pound Lebanon after deadly Beirut strike
- Ten Hag bemoans Man Utd's lack of killer instinct in Palace stalemate
- France's Macron appoints new government in shift to right
- Cheika proud of Leicester grit after winning start as boss
- Profligate Man Utd pay price in 0-0 draw at Palace
- Kane, Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Man Utd held at Palace
- LIV champion Rahm out of LIV Team semis with severe flu
- Slot surprised by tearful Nunez's moment of magic
- Title rivals Norris, Verstappen on 'cool' front row for Singapore GP
- Biden talks China with 'Quad' leaders in hometown summit
- Juve and Napoli play out goalless draw in early Serie A title tussle
- Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will 'kill us'
- Carey sparks recovery as Australia thrash England in 2nd ODI
- Leclerc, Sainz lament 'disappointing' Saturday in Singapore
- Bottega Veneta holds investors' aces as Madonna pops into D&G
- Beirut digs for victims at building flattened in Israeli strike
- Verstappen stages protest over 'ridiculous' swearing punishment
- Bayern boss Kompany lauds 'special talent' Olise
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Spurs bounce back
- Heavy fire over Israel-Lebanon border after deadly Beirut strike
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win despite Hogg scuffle
- Myanmar flood death toll jumps to 384
- Chelsea owners 'happy' with win at West Ham amid rift report
- Kane and Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win
- Norris pips Verstappen to dramatic Singapore pole after Sainz crash
- Carey takes Australia to 270 in 2nd ODI against England after collapse
- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
Markets mostly down ahead of key US data
Most Asian and European markets were down Tuesday, after a weak lead from Wall Street and with all eyes on key US inflation data due later in the trading day.
Tokyo closed down by nearly two percent, though Hong Kong was up more than one percent by the end of trade.
Shanghai also posted gains, while Seoul, Taipei, Sydney and Singapore were all in the red. Jakarta eked out small gains.
In Europe, London dipped 0.8 percent at the open, while Paris and Frankfurt were both down by just under two percent.
This followed a weak Monday performance from Wall Street and Europe, with sentiment souring on flat UK economic growth and expectations for another strong US inflation report, which will likely bring aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
The government is set to release the US consumer price index (CPI) for March on Tuesday, after inflation rose 7.9 percent over the 12 months to February, the biggest increase in 40 years.
Calling it the "Putin price hike" in reference to the economic ramifications of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters: "We expect March headline inflation to be extraordinarily elevated."
Economists are expecting annual US inflation to spike to nearly 8.5 percent, which would be the highest since late 1981.
"It's not really about the level of inflation anymore, as it has been well broadcast that CPI is hotter than hot," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index. "The big question is how long it takes to come back down and whether the Fed will tip the US into a recession in doing so."
"What we're faced with this year is stagflation," Kathryn Rooney Vera, head of global macro research at Bulltick LLC, told Bloomberg Television.
"It's a very complicated environment that the Fed has found itself in", and the market is pricing in potentially 50 basis points of hikes at each of the next two policy meetings, she added.
US Treasuries declined, taking the 10-year yield past 2.80 percent.
All those concerns were weighing on the Tokyo market, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
"Investors will then likely refrain from making major moves ahead of the release of the March US consumer prices data later in the day. The market will likely lose a sense of clear direction" until the data's release, the brokerage said.
"The Chinese government gave out its first online game approvals in months," noted Jeffrey Halley, senior markets analyst at OANDA, in relation to the gains in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The approvals were for the first batch of new video game licences since July, a step that could ease some of the worst concerns about Beijing's gaming-sector curbs.
But "sentiment hasn't been helped by the latest Covid extended lockdown measures being initiated by Chinese authorities in Shanghai in what is likely to be a fruitless attempt to stem the spread of the more contagious Omicron variant", said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Oil steadied, with Brent crude back just over $100 a barrel, after a tumble that erased most of the commodity's gains sparked by Russia's war in Ukraine.
Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management attributed the rise to a partial lifting of restrictions in Shanghai "easing concerns around Chinese oil demand".
He added: "Sort of the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel trade, but oil bulls have fingers crossed that light isn't a Chinese Covid freight train at the other end of the tunnel."
- Key figures around 0810 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.81 percent at 26,334.98 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.52 percent at 21,319.13 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.46 percent at 3,213.33 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.81 percent at 7,556.88
Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.42 percent at $100.86 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.53 percent at $96.68 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0864 from $1.0871
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3006 from $1.3021
Euro/pound: UP at 83.53 pence from 83.49 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 125.61 yen from 125.40
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.19 percent at 34,308.08 (close)
-- Bloomberg News contributed to this report --
M.Ouellet--BTB