Oil Prices Trump Earnings Optimism for Asian Stocks

Asian shares declined on Tuesday as rising oil prices and concerns about inflation outweighed the optimism from robust corporate earnings reports.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 1.6% to 68,098.54, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 9,088.60.

South Korea's Kospi reversed course after surging earlier and dropped 0.6% to 6,933.60, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.6% to 25,289.88, and the Shanghai Composite shed 0.5% to 3,963.53.

Analysts said that strong earnings reports in Asia are helping counter worries about what the war in Iran will do to the global flow of crude and its impact on energy prices.