Asian Markets Trade Mixed

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remained cautious and looked ahead to the release of closely watched key US inflation data later in the week that could impact the outlook for rates, including the pace of rate cuts. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

The data is expected to show slowdowns in the rates of US consumer and producer price growth compared to the same month a year ago and could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the US Fed’s monetary policy meeting next week.

The Fed is almost universally expected to begin lowering interest rates next week, but there is some debate about if the rate cut will be 25 or 50 basis points. The CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 66 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by 25 basis points and a 34 percent chance of a 50 basis point rate cut.

Australian stock market is trading slightly lower on Wednesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 8,000 mark, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in energy and financial stocks partially offset by gains in mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 14.80 points or 0.19 percent to 7,997.10, after hitting a low of 7,972.70 and a high of 8,024.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 10.30 points or 0.13 percent to 8,206.70. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 2 percent. Mineral Resources is skyrocketing more than 17 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent, Santos is losing more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is declining almost 2 percent and Beach energy is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.3 percent and Zip is gaining more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.4 percent and Xero is declining almost 1 percent. Appen is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are down almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining are advancing more than 2 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is adding almost 3 percent and Newmont is gaining more than 1 percent. Northern Star Resources is losing more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.665 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Wednesday, adding to the slight losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 35,900 level, with weakness across all sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 35,867.33, down 291.83 points or 0.81 percent, after hitting a low of 35,730.52 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are losing almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is flat.

Among the major exporters, Sony is edging up 0.2 percent, while Panasonic is down more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 1 percent. Canon is flat.

Among other major losers, Tokyo Gas is slipping more than 5 percent and Osaka Gas is declining almost 5 percent, while Tokyu Fudosan and Sapporo Holdings are declining almost 4 percent each. Nippon Steel, Mitsubishi Motors and Amada are sliding more than 3 percent each, while Subaru, Nomura Holdings, Inpex, JTEKT, Terumo, Keisei Electric Railway, Idemitsu Kosan and Nissui are losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Fujitsu is gaining almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 141 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is down 1.1 percent, while China, Malaysia and South Korea are lower by between 0.1 and 0.8 percent each. Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.2 and 0.5 percent each. New Zealand is relatively flat.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Tuesday but managed to end the day mostly higher. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added to the strong gains posted during Monday’s session, although the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq climbed 141.28 points or 0.8 percent to 17,025.88 and the S&P 500 rose 24.47 points or 0.5 percent to 5,495.52, but the Dow dipped 92.63 points or 0.2 percent to 40,736.96.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.0 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday, ahead of the inflation data and on concerns over the health of the global economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery stumbled $2.43 or 3.54 percent to finish at $66.28 per barrel.