Asian shares meander after big-tech led drop on Wall Street

Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Tuesday after a broad slide on Wall Street led by technology companies.

Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 2.2% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng recovered from early losses.

China-U.S. tensions regained the spotlight after U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she plans frank conversations with officials in Beijing about an interim trade deal aimed at resolving a tariff war.

Tai said she did not want to “inflame trade tensions with China." But her comments suggested continuity of U.S. policy toward Beijing under President Joe Biden from the strategy adopted by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Speaking to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., she also said that the U.S. “must defend to the hilt our economic interests" and take “all steps necessary to protect ourselves against the waves of damage inflicted over the years through unfair competition."

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 2.2% to 27,822.12 and the Kospi in Seoul dropped 1.9% to 2,962.17. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 0.4% to 7,248.40.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.5% to 24,166.74. Shanghai is closed until Friday for a national holiday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 1.49%.

Aside from regional geopolitical tensions, rising bond yields and energy prices are stoking investor concern about inflation.

The price of U.S. oil has risen to nearly $78 per barrel, its highest level since 2014, as OPEC and allied oil producers stuck to a plan for cautious production increases even as global demand for crude surges.

Natural gas prices have also surged.

Rising energy costs and supply chain problems are adding to worries over inflation and in turn to concern over the Federal Reserve’s plans to trim bond purchases and eventually raise its...