Asia markets were mixed on Wednesday morning following the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s record high overnight on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 slipped by 0.34 percent in the early hours of trading action, while the Topix index declined by 0.26 percent. Shares of major Japanese automakers fell, with Toyota falling by 1.46 percent while Honda saw losses of 2.81 percent.
In Australia, the ASX 200 saw gains of 0.14 percent in the morning, with shares of gold miners surging: Newcrest Mining rose by 2.78 percent while Evolution Mining advanced by 3.42 percent.
Markets in China and South Korea are closed for a public holiday.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 122.73 points to close at 26,773.94. The S&P 500 closed largely flat at 2,923.43 while the Nasdaq Composite slipped by approximately half a percent to 7,999.555.
Trade remains in focus for the markets. Following the joining of Canada with the U.S. and Mexico in a new trade deal to replace the current North American Free Trade Agreement, eyes are now on Washington’s ongoing trade fight with China.
In currency news, the U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.476 as of 8:11 a.m. HK/SIN, sliding further away from yesterday’s high.
The Japanese yen traded slightly stronger at 113.58 against the greenback, while the Australian dollar remained firm at $0.7188, as of 8:12 a.m. HK/SIN.
