05:39 AM EST, 03/03/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely retreated on Tuesday as the war in the Middle East continued, and as oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz to the Asian Pacific remained on hold.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, as did most other regional exchanges. Seoul's tech-heavy KOSPI index closed down 7.2% after a three-day weekend.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower on Middle East concerns and declined through the day, finishing off 3.1%.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1,778.19 to 56,279.05, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 218 to six.

Leading the upside was utility Tokyo Gas, up 2.2%, while Sumitomo Pharma declined 19.1%.

In economic news, Q4 capital spending by Japanese companies rose by 6.5% on year, reported the Finance Ministry.

The nation's unemployment rate in January inched up to 2.7% from 2.6% in December, while there were 118 job opening for every job hunter in January, down from 120 in the previous month, reported officials.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly, waffled, but waned in the afternoon, closing down 1.1% as traders mulled wartime reports from the Middle East.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 291.77 to 25,768.08, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 67 to 17. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 2.3% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.7%.

Leading the upside was natural gas supplier ENN Energy, gaining 5.1%, while Xinyi Solar declined 6.3%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.4% to 4,122.68.

On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE declined 2.2%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 1.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.5%.

Exchanges in India and Thailand were closed on holiday.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 3.2% on the day.

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