Stocks in Asia traded lower on Thursday morning following a choppy session on Wall Street as traders tried to interpret a release from the Federal Reserve.
Mainland Chinese shares declined in early trade, with the Shanghai composite slipping around 0.2 percent while the Shenzhen component fell 0.172 percent. The Shenzhen composite also declined 0.152 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.27 percent.
Hong Kong-listed shares of computer maker Lenovo jumped 5.7 percent after the company announced a return to profit in the third quarter, surpassing market expectations. Profit for the quarter was $233 million, versus a loss of $289 million in the same period a year earlier when the world’s largest personal computer (PC) maker by shipments took a one-off hit following U.S. tax reform.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.41 percent in morning trade while the Topix declined 0.44 percent. Shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group fell about 1.1 percent.
The Kospi in South Korea also declined 0.63 percent, with shares of Samsung Electronics shedding 1.07 percent, hours after the company unveiled its new series of Galaxy smartphones.
The ASX 200 in Australia bucked the overall trend, rising around 0.29 percent as the heavily weighted financial subindex added 0.83 percent. Shares of the country’s so-called Big Four banks mostly gained: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group advanced 1.36 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 1.21 percent, Westpac gained 0.64 percent. Shares of the National Australia Bank traded flat.
The ongoing trade negotiations between the U.S. and China remain the “main focus” for markets and are likely to “provide the next catalyst for a strong move in sentiment,” Rakuten Securities Australia said in a morning note.
“Hopes that the US will extent the March 1 tariff deadline are growing and any confirmation of this should provide a relief rally across stocks and risk trades with implementation probably leading to a strong sell off,” they said.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite closed just above the flatline at 7,489.07, notching its eighth consecutive gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 63.12 points to close at 25,954.44 and the S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to finish at 2,784.70.
The moves followed the release of minutes from the Fed’s January meeting, which highlighted downside risks, including “the possibilities of a sharper-than-expected slowdown in global economic growth, particularly in China and Europe, a rapid waning of fiscal policy stimulus, or a further tightening of financial market conditions.”
The minutes showed extensive discussion of market conditions, particularly on the emphasis that Fed actions were having on prices of risky assets like stocks and corporate bonds.
The Fed also judged that a “patient” approach to interest rate hikes would be prudent as it continued to weigh various headwinds to growth.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.550 after seeing an earlier session low of 96.480.
The Japanese yen traded at 110.65 against the dollar after touching an earlier session low of 110.87. The Australian dollar was at $0.7147 after seeing an earlier session high of $0.7207 yesterday.
Oil prices declined in the morning of Asian trade, as the international benchmark Brent crude futures contract slipped 0.43 percent to $66.79 per barrel. The U.S. crude futures contract declined 0.26 percent to $57.01 per barrel.
— Reuters and CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
