Asia-Pacific shares slip; Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy meeting minutes released

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific declined Tuesday morning as the Reserve Bank of Australia released minutes from its recent monetary policy meeting.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 0.58%.

Australia’s central bank is expected to keep the interest rate steady until 2024, according to minutes from its November monetary policy meeting released Tuesday.

“Given the latest data and forecasts, the central scenario for the economy continued to be consistent with the cash rate remaining at its current level until 2024,” the minutes said.

Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.21% while the Topix index sat below the flatline. In South Korea, the Kospi dipped 0.15%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.13% lower.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 12.86 points to 36,087.45 while the S&P 500 was near flat at 4,682.80. The Nasdaq Composite dipped fractionally to 15,853.85.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.407 after recent rising from below 95.2.