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Most Asia markets track declines in key Wall Street indexes; investors assess China industrial profits

An aerial photo is showing containers at Beilun Port in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China, on April 11, 2024.
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  • China reported that its industrial profits from January to July climbed 3.6% year on year.
  • Oil prices continued to rise after Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes over the weekend, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbing 3.5% to close at $77.42 per barrel and Brent crude up 3.05% at $81.43 a barrel, its highest in about two weeks.

Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Tuesday, tracking losses in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq overnight, while investors assessed industrial profit data out of China.

China's industrial profits from January to July climbed 3.6% year on year, compared to a 3.5% growth between January and June.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 0.4% in its final hour of trade, while mainland China's CSI 300 dropped 0.57% and closed at 3,305.33.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.47% to close at 38,288.62, while the broad-based Topix gained 0.73% to 2,680.80. The only two major indexes in positive territory.

South Korea's Kospi fell 0.32% to close at 2,689.25, while the small cap Kosdaq saw a loss of 0.24% to end at 764.95.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 reversed gains to decline 0.16%, wrapping its trading session at 8,0845. Earlier in the trading day, the index was close to breaching its all-time closing high of 8,114.7, set on Aug. 1.

Late Monday, oil prices continued to rise after Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes over the weekend, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbing 3.5% to close at $77.42 per barrel and Brent crude up 3.05% at $81.43 a barrel, its highest in about two weeks.

Oil prices later pared some gains on Tuesday, with WTI futures trading at $77.02 a barrel and Brent at $81.07 a barrel.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street reached new highs, closing up 65.44 points, or 0.16%, at 41,240.52. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 0.32% and 0.85%, respectively.

—CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this report.

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