Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with traders booking some profits after the recent upward trend in the markets. They also seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of key events later this week that could impact the outlook for interest rates. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Traders are likely to analyze the minutes of the US Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting, which is to be released later in the day, for additional clues about the likelihood of a rate cut next month.

Later in the week, remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium are also likely to attract attention.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, there is a 73.5 percent of a quarter point rate cut next month and a 26.5 percent chance of a half point rate cut.

Australian shares are trading notably lower on Wednesday, snapping an eight-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 32.90 points or 0.41 percent to 7,964.80, after hitting a low of 7,951.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 22.90 points or 0.28 percent to 8,184.70. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.1 percent, Rio Tinto is declining more than 1 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are weak. Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is down 1.5 percent, Beach energy is slipping more than 1 percent and Santos is declining more than 3 percent after reporting a big drop in first-half underlying profit as LNG prices softened.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 3 percent and Zip is declining almost 4 percent, while Appen and Xero are slipping almost 1 percent each. WiseTech Global is skyrocketing more than 14 percent after lifting its dividend and forecasting faster earnings growth for the fiscal year.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 2 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 1 percent, Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is adding 1.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Brambles are gaining more than 7 percent after reporting better-than-expected earnings.

Shares in Charter Hall soared more than 13 percent after the property fund manager approved a 6 percent lift in distributions over the coming year.

Shares in Breville are surging more than 7 per cent after reporting higher profit.

Struggling pathology company Healius soared almost 9 percent despite its losses deepening and withholding issuance of a dividend.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.674 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the strong gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 37,800 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,805.35, down 257.57 points or 0.68 percent, after hitting a low of 37,605.83 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are down more than 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is gaining almost 3 percent and Sony is edging up 0.3 percent, while Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 2 percent.

Among other major losers, Shiseido is declining 4.5 percent and Tokyo Electric Power is losing almost 4 percent, while Taiheiyo Cement and Fujikura are down more than 3 percent each. OKUMA, Lasertec, Dai-ichi Life, Furukawa Electric, Daikin Industries, Hitachi Zosen, Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Renesas Electronics, Sumitomo Chemical and Trend Micro are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Seven & I Holdings is gaining more than 3 percent and Nichirei is adding almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 145 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.3 and 0.8 percent each. Indonesia is bucking the trend and is up 0.5 percent.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the day modestly lower.

The major averages finished the session well off their worst levels of the day but still in the red after trending higher over the past several sessions. The Dow dipped 61.56 points or 0.2 percent to 40,834.97, the Nasdaq fell 59.83 points or 0.3 percent to 17,816.94 and the S&P 500 slipped 11.13 points or 0.2 percent to 5,597.12.

The major European markets have all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday, losing for a third straight session, although the downside was far less pronounced compared to the previous two sessions. Concerns about the outlook for demand from China, and easing geopolitical tensions weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $0.33 or about 0.44 percent at $74.04 a barrel.