Asian stock markets exhibited a mixed performance on Wednesday, influenced by the mixed signals from Wall Street the previous night. Investors are processing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee and are anticipating the U.S. consumer price inflation report for June, expected on Thursday, for additional insights into future interest rate actions. Notably, Asian markets had predominantly closed higher on Tuesday.
During his testimony, Powell indicated that further positive economic data would enhance the Federal Reserve's confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards its 2% target, potentially leading to an interest rate cut. Powell remarked, "Reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment."
In Australia, shares are trading slightly lower on Wednesday, retracing the gains from the prior session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped slightly, remaining just above the 7,800 level, weighed down by broad-based sector weakness, especially in mining and energy stocks, amidst falling commodity prices. The S&P/ASX 200 index is down by 25.60 points, or 0.33%, to 7,804.10, after hitting a low of 7,829.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries index has decreased 28.80 points, or 0.36%, to 8,046.40. Australian stocks had ended significantly higher on Tuesday.
Prominent miners reflected the downturn, with BHP Group and Fortescue Metals each losing nearly 1%, Mineral Resources declining more than 2%, while Rio Tinto remained flat.
The oil sector also saw losses, with Beach Energy dropping over 1%, Origin Energy decreasing by 1.5%, and both Santos and Woodside Energy edging down by 0.4%. In technology, Block (owner of Afterpay) edged down 0.3%, Zip fell more than 3%, Xero was down nearly 1%, and WiseTech Global lost over 1%. Appen remained flat.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac each lost almost 1%, National Australia Bank edged down 0.3%, whereas ANZ Banking was up by 0.1%.
Gold miners displayed varied performances with Resolute Mining, Gold Road Resources, and Evolution Mining inching up 0.1% to 0.3% each, while Newmont lost nearly 1%, and Northern Star Resources edged down 0.4%.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar was trading at $0.673 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market opened in the red but moved slightly higher on Wednesday, extending previous session gains, buoyed by selective buying in heavyweight and financial stocks despite weakness in technology shares. The Nikkei 225 index rose to 41,635.53, an increase of 55.36 points, or 0.13%, after touching a high of 41,740.96 earlier. Japanese stocks had ended sharply higher on Tuesday.
Key stocks such as SoftBank Group and Fast Retailing rose by almost 1% each. Among automakers, Honda edged down 0.4%, while Toyota edged up 0.5%.
In technology, Advantest and Tokyo Electron edged down 0.2% to 0.3%, while Screen Holdings fell over 1%.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial gained nearly 2% each with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial increasing by over 1%.
Major exporters saw mixed results with Canon and Panasonic edging down 0.3% to 0.4%, whereas Sony gained over 1% and Mitsubishi Electric added nearly 1%.
Significant gainers included Mitsubishi Motors soaring nearly 9%, Sapporo Holdings surging almost 7%, MS&AD Insurance gaining nearly 5%, and Tokio Marine adding more than 4%. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, Suzuki Motor, and Recruit Holdings each increased by almost 3%.
Conversely, GS Yuasa fell by more than 4%, with Lasertec and Ebara each declining nearly 3%.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid-161 yen range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia saw gains ranging from 0.2% to 0.9%, whereas New Zealand, China, South Korea, and Taiwan experienced declines of 0.2% to 0.7%.
On Wall Street, stocks demonstrated a lack of clear direction on Tuesday, with major indices fluctuating across the unchanged line, ultimately ending the day narrowly mixed. Despite the erratic trading, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached new record closing highs. The Dow dipped 52.82 points or 0.1% to 39,291.97, the Nasdaq edged up 25.55 points or 0.1% to 18,429.29, and the S&P 500 rose 4.13 points or 0.1% to 5,576.98.The main European markets experienced declines today. The French CAC 40 Index dropped by 1.6 percent, while the German DAX Index decreased by 1.3 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices continued their downward trend for the third consecutive session on Tuesday. This decline was driven by demand concerns and reports that Hurricane Beryl did not cause significant damage to refineries and ports along the Gulf Coast. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August closed at $81.41 a barrel, down $0.92.
