Asian stock markets are presenting with mixed performances mid-week, mirroring the largely negative trends observed on Wall Street overnight. Traders are cashing in on recent market strength and are adopting a wait-and-see approach ahead of Jerome Powell's, the US Fed Chair, congressional testimony this week, which could provide crucial indicators for interest rate projections.
Powell is expected to reemphasize previous statements implying that the central bank requires more convincing evidence of a slowdown in inflation before interest rates can be cut. The next monetary policy meeting will take place on March 19-20, and it is widely assumed that the Fed will keep interest rates as they are.
In Australia, shares tumbled slightly, adding to the losses observed in the last two sessions. The primary S&P/ASX 200 dipped to just above the 7,700 mark due to the negative influence from Wall Street, with losses occurring in mines and tech stocks counterbalanced by gains in financial stocks.
Mineral Resource and Rio Tinto stocks fell by almost two percent, Fortescue Metals down by one percent ,while BHP Group's value dropped just over one percent. In the tech space, Afterpay’s parent company, Block, fell more than three percent, Xero dropped nearly two percent, and WiseTech Global declined over two percent. In contrast, Appen and Zip made gains of over eight percent and nine percent, respectively.
The four big banks in Australia — Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac, and ANZ Banking — all saw nearly one percent gain. Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources edged up just slightly, whilst Resolute Mining rose by more than one percent. However, Evolution Mining fell close to one percent, and Newmont dipped by half a percent.
On the economic front, Australia's GDP expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retail sales in Australia also increased a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent in January. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar currently trades at $0.651.
In Japan, the stock market is slightly down, with the Nikkei 225 falling just above the 40,000 mark. This follows the adverse cues from Wall Street and comes as traders decided to cash in on the recent gains that pushed the indices to record highs.
In the tech space, Advantest made slight gains, and Screen Holdings rose almost two percent, while Tokyo Electron saw a slight drop. In banking, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial each increased by more than one percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial also saw a slight rise. On the other hand, Renesas Electronics dipped almost four percent, while Lasertec, TDK, and Sumco each fell roughly three percent.Kawasaki Heavy Industries has shown significant growth with an increase of more than 4 percent. Other corporations, such as Aozora Bank and Tokyo Tatemono, have also experienced a surge of almost 4 percent. Notably, Yokogawa Electric, GS Yuasa, Hino Motors, Nitori Holdings, Tokyu Fudosan, Sumitomo Realty & Development, and Resona Holdings are all up approximately 3 percent each.
In terms of currency, the U.S. dollar has seen a surge in the market, trading in the higher yen range of 149 on Wednesday.
In other parts of Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore have increased by 1.1 percent each, while Taiwan and Indonesia have added 0.2 percent each. Conversely, New Zealand, China, South Korea, and Malaysia have seen a decrease in the market by between 0.2 and 0.6 percent each.
In the U.S, following modest pullback seen in the previous session, the Wall Street stocks have shown a considerable shift to a downward trend. During the Tuesday trading session, the major averages dropped significantly. The tech focused Nasdaq experienced a steep decline. Despite a slight rally toward close, the major averages maintained strong negative trends. The Nasdaq fell 267.92 points or 1.7 percent, settling at 15,939.59. The S&P 500 experienced a drop of 52.30 points or 1.0 percent, and the Dow Jones fell 404.64 points or 1.0 percent.
Meanwhile, European markets had mixed results. While the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 Index showed a slight increase of 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX Index decreased marginally by 0.1 percent. France's CAC 40 Index was also down by 0.3 percent.
Oil prices saw a decrease for the second consecutive day Tuesday due to concerns about the demand outlook. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April dropped by $0.59, ending at $78.15 a barrel.
