Asian stocks do not show a single direction in today's trading. Some indicators are declining, while others are showing growth. A slight drop was shown by the Shanghai Composite – by 0.09%, the Korean KOSPI (by 0.52%) and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index (by 1.43%) also fell. Meanwhile, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 increased by 0.11%. The Shenzhen Composite gained slightly more – 0.14%, and the Japanese Nikkei 225 rose by 0.4%.
Market participants are waiting for the announcement of the results of the US Federal Reserve's July meeting, the results of which will be announced this evening. Most experts are confident that the rate will be raised by another 75 basis points, as at the previous (June) meeting. According to analysts, it is not worth expecting monetary policy easing, since the situation with rising inflation has not yet normalized.
Traders continue to monitor the financial results that companies managed to achieve in the second quarter. During the current week, such large American companies as Microsoft and Alphabet have already released their data, thanks to which the value of their shares increased by 4% and 5%, respectively.
According to the latest statistics, the total income of the largest Chinese companies increased by 1% in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 and reached 42.70 trillion yuan (equivalent to 6.31 US dollars).
The People's Bank of China has allocated 2 billion yuan to banks to finance a seven-day reverse repo program. This is the smallest amount of funds invested in the country's financial system over the past year and a half. The interest rate was left at the previous level of 2.1%.
Among the components of the Hang Seng Index, the most significant decrease in the share price is observed in the companies Country Garden Services Holdings, Co., Ltd., whose securities immediately lost 22%, Country Garden Holdings, Co., Ltd. (-14.3%), as well as Geely Automobile Holdings, Ltd. (-4.6%).
Among Japanese companies, Tokyo Electron, Ltd. (+3.1%), Astellas Pharma, Inc. (+3%), as well as SCREEN Holdings, Co., Ltd. (+2.6%) marked an increase in quotes.
Of the KOSPI components, quotes decreased for Samsung Electronics, Co. (-0.7%), as well as Kia, Corp. (-2.6%).
The share price of SK Hynix, Inc. fell by 1.4%, despite the fact that the company was able to increase its net profit by 45% in the second quarter, although chip sales declined.
According to the latest statistics from Australia, the inflation growth for the second quarter was 6.1% year-on-year. This is the highest growth in the last more than 20 years. Among the main factors contributing to this is the increase in the cost of food and energy resources, in particular fuel.
Shares of BHP Group, Ltd. lost 1.9%, and Rio Tinto, Ltd. – 1.8%.
Stock prices of Australian banks, on the contrary, are growing: the securities of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose by 2.3%, Westpac Banking, Corp. up 1.3%, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Ltd. added 0.4%.
