Stocks edged generally lower at the start of Asian trade on Tuesday and oil prices stabilised after the previous session's tumble, with investors on edge with hours to go to the start of voting for the US midterm elections. In Hong Kong, however, the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened up 76 points, or 0.33 percent, at 23,469. The China enterprises index edged up 27 points, or 0.35 percent, to 7,933 while the tech index inched 13 points, or 0.36 percent, higher to 3,853. Mainland markets went the other way, with the Shanghai Composite Index opening down 13 points, or 0.37 percent, at 3,624. The Shenzhen Component Index fell 76 points, or 0.69 percent, to 10,934 while the ChiNext Index was 28 points, or 1.18 percent, lower at 2,429. With the Nikkei closed for a public holiday, the Kospi plunged 143 points, or 2.46 percent, to 5,715 in Seoul and was just a tad worse off at 145 points down at one stage before noon. "Tuesday will be nothing more than the day ahead of a much bigger day," ING analysts wrote in a note. By tomorrow, the market will have guidance on the midterm implications and the US Treasury's quarterly refunding announcement, they wrote. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond was up 2.1 basis points at 4.913 percent. Overnight, stocks on Wall Street edged lower, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.5 percent as tech-sector earnings weighed on investor confidence, even as data showed US manufacturing activity picked up in October amid strong domestic demand. Apple shares extended losses, falling 2.8 percent in after-hours trading after the iPhone maker on Monday forecast lower gross margins for the crucial holiday quarter, citing rising memory-chip costs, and projected services revenue growth that fell well short of Wall Street expectations. Investors are also preparing to vote in the US midterm elections, where President Donald Trump's Republican Party is facing a challenge to keep its hold on Congress. Opinion polls favour the Democrats to win the House, though the Senate remains too close to call. Prediction market sites Polymarket and Kalshi currently assign around a 75 percent probability that the Democrats will control the Senate. "Prediction markets imply the greatest likelihood of a Democratic 'sweep', but polling margins remain broadly comparable to Trump 1.0 midterms in 2018 when Democrats won the House decisively, but Republicans held onto the Senate," MUFG analysts wrote in a note. "Brazil’s election surprise is a reminder that prediction markets can misprice political tail risks, raising questions around the roughly 70 percent odds now assigned to a blue 'sweep' in the midterms." Oil prices steadied after a fall, with Brent crude fluctuating between gains and losses and was last 0.1 percent lower at US$104.72 as trading resumed in Asia and investors weighed the state of peace talks between the US and Iran. The Wall Street Journal on Monday reported the US military struck Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, citing US officials. (Reuters/Xinhua) Edited by Tony Sabine