Asian stocks were narrowly mixed in early Wednesday trade following the mixed close on Wall Street as several markets in the region re-opened for trade after a holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down by 0.14 percent, with the broader Topix also recording slight weakness and trading lower by 0.23 percent as its mining and oil subindexes led losses in the morning.
Elsewhere, the Kospi slipped 0.1 percent and the smaller Kosdaq declined 0.82 percent.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 bucked the downward trend in the region to gain 0.16 percent as the industrials and information technology sectors gained. The heavily weighted financials subindex shed 0.49 percent, as all of Australia’s “Big Four” banks traded in the red.
On the corporate front, earnings from Standard Chartered and SJM Holdings are due later in the day.
The tepid moves in early trade came on the back of a mixed session on Wall Street: The Nasdaq composite advanced 0.91 percent to end at 7,190.70 as Apple stock jumped ahead of expectation-topping results released after the market close, while the Dow Jones industrial average finished the day slightly lower.
Almost 80 percent of S&P 500 companies that had reported first-quarter results as of Monday had topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
In currencies, the dollar held onto overnight gains ahead of the end of the Federal Reserve’s May meeting. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 92.489 at 8:13 a.m. HK/SIN.
Most analysts expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady this month, but will be on the lookout for signals on the central bank’s views on inflation and the economy.
Against the yen, the dollar pared some of its overnight gains trade at 109.75. HK/SIN. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar continued to trade below the $0.75 handle and last stood at $0.7478.
Oil prices edged slightly higher after sliding in the last session amid strength in the dollar. Brent crude futures for July delivery added 0.18 percent to trade at $73.26 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for June delivery tacked on 0.3 percent to trade at $67.45.
The economic calendar for Wednesday includes a slew of PMI releases. Here are the highlights (all times in HK/SIN):
- 9:45 a.m.: China Caixin manufacturing PMI
- 12:00 p.m.: Indonesia core CPI
- 1:00 p.m.: Japan consumer confidence
