Asian Markets A Sea Of Red After US Inflation Data

Asian stock markets are trading mostly in the red on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders digest the closely watched key U.S. inflation data, which accelerated in January but came in line with estimates, probably dashing hopes that the US Fed might further ease the pace of its interest rate hikes. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Wednesday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,400 levels, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by tumbling financial stocks as traders reacted higher-than-expected US inflation reading, which supports a case for further interest rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 77.10 points or 1.04 percent to 7,353.80, after hitting a low of 7,337.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 68.40 points or 0.90 percent to 7,560.20. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.2 percent, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each. OZ Minerals is flat. Fortescue Metals is declining more than 2 percent after posting a 15 percent drop in its half-yearly profit amid low iron ore prices and higher operating costs.

Oil stocks are weak. Woodside Energy is losing almost 2 percent and Beach energy is down almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are flat.

In the tech space, Xero is adding more than 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block, Zip and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each. Appen is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac is losing more than 4 percent, National Australia Bank is declining 3.5 percent and ANZ Banking is down more than 3 percent. Commonwealth Bank is slipping 4.5 percent, despite posting record half-yearly profit of $5.15 billion and announcing 20 percent higher dividend.

Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining is losing 1.5 percent, Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent and Evolution Mining is declining more than 2 percent. Resolute Mining and Gold Road Resources are flat.

In other news, shares in Cochlear are surging more than 6 percent after the hearing device maker posted a 9 percent growth in half-year revenue. Net profit was down 16 percent, hurt by higher operating costs.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.695 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Wednesday after opening in the green, giving up all the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 27,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders reacted to higher-than-expected US inflation reading, which supports a case for further interest rate hikes. They are also assessing the formal nomination of academic Kazuo Ueda as the next Bank of Japan governor.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,491.51, down 111.26 points or 0.40 percent, after hitting a low of 27,483.10 and a high of 27,720.27 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is up more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Advantest are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

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

Among the other major gainers, Citizen Watch is soaring more than 11 percent, while Rakuten Group and Mitsubishi Chemical are surging almost 5 percent each. T&D Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent and Kubota is adding more than 3 percent, while GS Yuasa and Hino Motors are advancing almost percent each.

Conversely, Recruit Holdings is losing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 132 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are lower by between 1.2 and 1.6 percent each, while New Zealand, China, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks were on a volatile ride Tuesday that saw them finish on opposite sides of the unchanged line after showing considerable strength in the previous session.

The Dow slumped 162.12 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 34,083 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.96 points or 0.02 percent to end at 4,136.33, while the NASDAQ advanced 70.99 points or 0.60 percent to close at 11,962.78

The major European markets also were mixed on the day. The French CAC 40 Index perked 0.07 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.08 percent and the German DAX Index slipped by 0.11 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday afternoon, dropping after the release of the U.S. inflation data before coming up off daily lows. West Texas Intermediate was down $1.01 or 1.26 percent to $79.13 per barrel, coming off a low of $77.46 earlier in the day.

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