Asian Markets Mixed Ahead Of Fed Rate Decision

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious ahead of the US Fed's interest rate decision later in the day, where it is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points. They are hopeful the rate hike will be the last following recent encouraging inflation data. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,400 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in iron ore miners and technology stocks.

The markets were boosted after data released showed the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator dropped to a 16-month low. This is also the straight month of lower annual inflation rate since February 2022.

Traders also remain cautious as they await the US Fed's monetary policy decision later in the day as well as the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy decision next week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 70.70 points or 0.96 percent to 7,410.40, after touching a high of 7,421.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 71.40 points or 0.95 percent to 7,626.10. Australian stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 2 percent each, while BHP Group is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.3 percent each. Beach energy is gaining almost 4 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, while Xero is edging up 0.2 percent, Appen is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent. Zip is flat. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent, while ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent. Westpac and National Australia Bank are flat.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.1 percent, Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent each, Gold Road Resources is down almost 1 percent and Northern Star Resources is declining almost 2 percent, while Newcrest Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Austal are plunging more than 9 percent after the shipbuilder slashed its profit guidance amid higher cost.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.677 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 staying above the 32,600 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with losses in exporters and index heavyweights nearly offset by gains in technology stocks.

Traders also remain cautious ahead of the US Fed's monetary policy decision later in the day as well as the Bank of Japan's monetary policy on Friday, where it is widely seen maintaining ultra-easy monetary settings.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,669.00, down 13.51 points or 0.04 percent, after hitting a low of 32,488.52 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent, while Advantest is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent. Canon is flat.

Among the other major losers, IHI is plunging more than 5 percent.

Conversely, Nippon Paper and Kobe Steel are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 1.2 percent on year in June, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That missed expectations for an increase of 1.4 percent and was down from the upwardly revised 1.7 percent gain in May (originally 1.6 percent). On a monthly basis, producer prices eased 0.2 percent following the flat reading in the previous month. Excluding international transportation, producer prices rose 1.7 percent on year and fell 0.2 percent on month.

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

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each, while Hong Kong, China and South Korea are lower by between 0.2 and 0.6 percent each.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but largely maintained a positive bias throughout the session. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts, the Dow managed to close higher for the twelfth straight session.

The Nasdaq climbed 85.69 points or 0.6 percent to 14,144.56 and the S&P 500 rose 12.82 points or 0.3 percent to 4,567.46, reaching its best closing level in over a year. The Dow pulled back off its best levels going into the close but still inched up 26.83 points or 0.1 percent to 35,438.07.

Meanwhile, the major European markets finished the day narrowly mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures settled notably higher Tuesday on optimism about increased Chinese demand after policymakers pledged support to shore up growth in the world's second largest economy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September gained $0.89 or 1.1 percent at $79.63 a barrel, the highest settlement since mid-April.