Asian Markets Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as skepticism over the outlook for interest rates continue ahead of the release of key inflation readings from the U.S. and Europe later in the week. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

The report on US personal income and spending in the month of April, due on Friday, includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the US Fed.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed's next monetary policy meeting on June 11-12.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari suggested that more progress on inflation is needed to support a rate cut. In an interview with CNBC, Kashkari said he needs to see "many more months of positive inflation data" before he would consider cutting interest rates.

Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous six sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling to below the 7,700 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and financial stocks.

Traders also digested data showing Australia's monthly inflation rate accelerated to 3.6% in April, the highest since November last year.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 88.30 points or 1.14 percent to 7,678.40, after hitting a low of 7,676.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 86.80 points or 1.08 percent to 7,948.10. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

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

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.1 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 2 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are losing almost 1 percent each, while Xero is edging down 0.3 percent. Zip is edging up 0.2 percent and Appen is gaining almost 1 percent.

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

Among gold miners, Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 4 percent, while Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in respirator company Fisher & Paykel are surging 6 percent on optimism about 2025 net profit after 2024 was hit by three "abnormal items".

In economic news, The value of total construction work done in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at A$64.032 billion. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.6 percent following the 0.7 percent gain in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, overall construction work was up 1.8 percent.

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

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday after opening in the green, extending the slight losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to a tad below the 38,800 level, with weakness in some index heavyweights amid a spike in global bond yields.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,789.52, down 65.85 points or 0.17 percent, after hitting a low of 38,675.11 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent and Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Panasonic is declining almost 1 percent and Canon is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among other major losers, Tokyo Electric Power is declining almost 5 percent and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is losing almost 4 percent, while Teijin and LY slipping more 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sompo Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, while Hoya and Konami Group are adding almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 157 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and South Korea are down 1.3 and 1.0 percent, respectively. Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 0.5 percent each. Meanwhile, China and New Zealand are up 0.5 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Singapore is relatively flat. On the Wall Street, the Nasdaq and the Dow turned in a mixed performance throughout much of the trading day on Tuesday after moving in opposite directions early in the session. While the Nasdaq briefly joined the Dow in negative territory in afternoon trading, the tech-heavy index rebounded to end the day at a new record closing high.

The major averages ended mixed, The Nasdaq climbed 99.09 points or 0.6 percent to 17,019.88, adding to the strong gain posted last Friday. The S&P 500 also inched up 1.32 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,306.04, while the Dow slid 216.73 points or 0.6 percent to 38,852.86, extending the sharp pullback seen last week.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index declined by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose Tuesday on hopes demand for oil will pick up in the U.S. driving season, and on expectations that OPEC will extend its production cuts into the next quarter. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.11 or 2.7 percent at $79.83 a barrel.