Asian shares were down on Tuesday as financial markets fretted about persistent global cost pressures, with investors turning their focus this week to U.S. inflation data and the prospects for further aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes. The unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs data on Friday have raised the stakes for the July U.S. consumer prices report due on Wednesday, especially for the Fed's policy outlook. "U.S. stocks were struggling to hold on to gains, as the focus moves from a robust U.S. labour market to the U.S. CPI data out later this week," ANZ analysts said in a note.
Shares of 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD), a diversified 3D printing company, rose 17.9% in July, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. This rise is at least primarily attributable to market dynamics, rather than company-specific catalysts. For context, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes returned 9.2% and 12.4%, respectively, last month.