Asia stocks slip following overnight drop in US crude to negative prices

• Stocks in Asia declined in Tuesday morning trade.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes for its April meeting are set to be out around 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN. RBA Governor Philip Lowe is also expected to give a speech later in the day at 1:00 p.m. HK/SIN.
• The May contract for West Texas Intermediate, which expires Tuesday, dropped more than 100% overnight to settle at negative $37.63 per barrel, a bizarre move tied to weak demand outlook and storage capacity issues.

Stocks in Asia declined in Tuesday morning trade following a historic plunge overnight in U.S. crude prices.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.06% as shares of index heavyweight Softbank Group dropped more than 2%. The Topix index also shed 0.82%.

In South Korea, the Kospi slipped 1.12% while the Kosdaq index declined 1.57%.

Meanwhile, stocks in Australia slipped, with the S&P/ASX 200 0.26% lower. The Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes for its April meeting are set to be out around 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.34% lower.

On the corporate news front, developments on Virgin Australia will be watched following a Reuters report Monday that said the airline is set to enter voluntary administration as it has gone into debt following the coronavirus crisis. It means a way for the company would be worked out, including options such as asset sales, an agreement with creditors, debt write-offs or a winding up of the company, according to the report. Trading of the company's stock has been halted.

Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 592.05 points lower at 23,650.44 while the S&P 500 slipped 1.8% to end its trading day at 2,823.16. The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 1% to close at 8,560.73.

The moves came as the May contract for West Texas Intermediate, which expires Tuesday, dropped more than 100% to settle at below zero — at negative $37.63 per barrel, a bizarre move tied to weak demand outlook and storage capacity issues.

In the morning of Asian trading hours on Tuesday, the price of the May WTI contract remained negative. The June U.S. crude contract was at $21.58 per barrel. International benchmark Brent crude futures traded at $26.40 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against as basket of its peers, was last at 99.932 after touching levels around 100 yesterday.

The Japanese yen traded at 107.67 per dollar after seeing levels below 107.4 last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.634, off levels above $0.635 seen yesterday.

What's on tap for Tuesday:

• Australia: Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes for April meeting at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN

Source: cnbc.com