(RTTNews) – Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday following mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remained cautious ahead of the release of key US inflation data later in the day, which could impact the outlook for interest rates. Fears of inflation due to the continued spike in crude oil prices also weighed on sentiment. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.
Ahead of the data, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently shows a 93.0 percent chance that the Fed will leave rates unchanged, but also a 40.4 percent chance of another quarter-point rate hike in November.
The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the gains from the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,200 level following largely negative signals from Wall Street overnight , carried away by the weakness in the mining industry. and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 60.30 points or 0.84 percent to 7,146.60, after earlier hitting a low of 7,140.60. The broader All Ordinaries Index fell 64.10 points or 0.87 percent to 7,338.80. Australian shares closed modestly higher on Tuesday.
Among major mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are losing almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is down almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is down 0.4 percent.
Oil stocks are usually higher. Woodside Energy gains almost 1 percent and Santos adds more than 1 percent, while Beach Energy and Origin Energy each rise 0.1 to 0.4 percent.
On the technology front, Afterpay owner Block gains almost 1 percent and Appen adds more than 1 percent, while Zip loses 3.5 percent, Xero falls more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global falls almost 2 percent. Of the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking is flat.
Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is down more than 1 percent, Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is down 0.2 percent, while Gold Road Resources is up 0.1 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.
On the foreign exchange market, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.640 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the previous session’s gains, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 32,700 level following largely negative signals from Wall Street overnight, while traders remained cautious ahead of the publication of the 32,700 points. This is key US inflation data later today that could impact the outlook for interest rates.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,675.89, down 100.48 points or 0.31 percent, after earlier hitting a low of 32,662.27. Japanese shares closed significantly higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group gains almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing adds more than 1 percent. Among car manufacturers, Honda gains almost 2 percent and Toyota adds more than 2 percent.
On the technology front, Advantest loses more than 2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron adds more than 1 percent. Screen Holdings is flat.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial gains almost 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial each rise more than 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Canon and Mitsubishi Electric each rose 0.3 to 0.4 percent, while Sony added more than 1 percent. Panasonic gains almost 1 percent.
There are no other big losers.
Conversely, Yokohama Rubber gains more than 4 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha each add more than 3 percent. Idemitsu Kosan and Bridgestone are up almost 3 percent each.
Economic news: Producer prices in Japan rose 0.3 percent on a monthly basis in August, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That was better than expectations for a 0.1 percent increase, which would have been unchanged from July figures.
On a year-over-year basis, producer prices rose 3.2 percent β ββin line with expectations and down from the previous month’s downwardly revised 3.4 percent increase (originally 3.6 percent). Export prices rose 0.5 percent month-on-month and 0.8 percent year-on-year, while import prices fell 0.9 percent month-on-month and 15.9 percent year-on-year.
In the foreign exchange market, the US dollar is trading in the lower range of 147 yen on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are all down between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each.
On Wall Street, stocks tried to recover from initial weakness on Tuesday, but fell again in the latter part of the session. The major averages all ended the day negative, although the Dow Jones posted a relatively modest loss.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 144.28 points, or 1.0 percent, to 13,773.61, largely offsetting Monday’s strong gains. The S&P 500 also fell 25.56 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,461.90, while the Dow Jones fell 17.73 points, or 0.1 percent, to 34,645.99.
Meanwhile, major European markets ended the day on a mixed note. While the British FTSE 100 Index rose 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index fell 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices rose sharply to a 10-month high on Tuesday after OPEC’s monthly report showed the oil market could be a lot tighter than initially thought. West Texas Intermediate crude futures ended October higher by $1.55, or 1.8 percent, at $88.84 a barrel.
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