Asian stock market indexes were mixed on Wednesday. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.38%, the Shenzhen Composite increased by 0.51%, and the Hang Seng Index edged up by 0.06%. The KOSPI and the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.32% and 0.64% respectively, while the Nikkei 225 dropped by 1.38%.
On Tuesday, US indexes declined sharply, with the NASDAQ suffering the biggest losses, following the news that Elon Musk had successfully acquired Twitter. Shares of Tesla dived by 12.2%, while Twitter lost 4%.
Investors are also focused on earning reports by US tech companies. Microsoft and Alphabet have already published their first-quarter results, while Apple and Amazon are set to do it later this week.
Chinese indexes are recovering lost ground following several straight days of losses caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in China and the resulting new lockdown measures.
The profits of Chinese industrial companies rose by 8.5% in Q1 2022, slowing from the final quarter of 2021 due to quarantine measures in several regions of China. In March, industrial profits rose by 10.6%, well above the 5% increase reported in the first two months of the year.
Most stocks on the Hang Seng Index finished trading in positive territory. Haidilao International Holding, Ltd. increased by 8.2%, Li Ning Co., Ltd. gained 5.5%, and CNOOC, Ltd. added 3.9%.
JD.com Inc., Netease Inc., and Meituan rose by 2.9%, 1.8%, and 3.4% respectively.
Investors are awaiting the results of the latest policy meeting of the Bank of Japan. The Japanese regulator is expected to leave interest rates unchanged to boost inflows of funds and domestic spending.
On the Nikkei 225, the worst-performing stocks were Kikkoman Corp. (-13.2%), Japan Exchange Group (-5.9%), and CyberAgent Inc. (-5%). SoftBank Group Corp. and Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. lost 1.1% and 0.4% respectively.
On the KOSPI, most stocks were mixed. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. decreased by 1.5%, while Kia Corp. added 0.1%.
Consumer prices in Australia have jumped by 5.1% in the first quarter of 2022, well above 3.5% in Q4 2021 and the projected increase by 4.6%. Inflation in Australia has reached the highest level in 20 years.
Australian stocks on the S&P/ASX 200 were also mixed, with BHP Group, Ltd. gaining 0.6%, and Rio Tinto shedding 0.05%.
