Asia’s major stock indexes were mixed on Wednesday after an overnight Wall Street slide weighed in some corners while there was a rebound in Hong Kong after a tech-induced dive.
Traders were also waiting on policy cues from Beijing during its week-long annual session of parliament after a lack of stimulus measures from the opening day disappointed some investors.
Japan’s Nikkei share average narrowly missed out on a record close for a second session as tech shares weighed on the index following declines in US peers overnight.
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The Nikkei finished the day 0.02% lower at 40,090.78, after several forays above Monday’s all-time closing high of 40,109.23. However, the index never came close to challenging the record intraday peak at 40,314.64, also set on Monday. The broader Topix rose 0.39%.
The Nikkei has still surged nearly 20% in 2024, powered mainly by tech shares amid the global euphoria over artificial intelligence (AI).
A weakening yen, down about 6% this year, has also made Japanese stocks more attractive to the foreign funds that have mainly driven the rally.
Hong Kong stocks rebounded from a decline in the previous session while China shares were largely flat, with investor eyes on the National People’s Congress (NPC) this week.
Traders remain cautious after Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced an ambitious 2024 economic growth target of around 5% on Tuesday in his maiden work report. Analysts, however, say the report lacked policy details to support the goal.
The Hang Seng Index gained 1.70%, or 275.45 points, to 16,438.09, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index jumped 1.98%.
The Hang Seng Tech Index surged 2.67% after a 4% tumble in the previous session. Index heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent jumped 3.08% and 2.39%, respectively.
Wall Street Retreat
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.26%, or 7.86 points, to 3,039.93, but the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange was up 0.22%, or 3.75 points, to 1,722.05. The blue-chip CSI 300 Index dipped 0.41%.
Elsewhere across the region, in earlier trade, Sydney, Mumbai, Taipei, Wellington, Singapore, Bangkok and Jakarta were also up. Shares in Seoul, Manila and Kuala Lumpur were lower.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan initially slipped before reversing course to trade 0.46% higher.
Wall Street’s three major indexes retreated more than 1% on Tuesday, with weakness in megacap growth companies such as Apple and the chip sector weighing most on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.09%. European bourses were set for slightly higher open, with the Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.10%, German DAX futures up 0.14% and FTSE futures up 0.05%.
In the US, data on Tuesday showed a waning expansion of the services sector, and a steeper-than-expected drop in new factory orders, with the spotlight now firmly on payrolls data due later in the week.
Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields steadied in Asian hours and were last at 4.147%, having dipped to a one-month low of 4.112% in the previous session after weak data.
Yen Strengthens
Traders are scouring US economic data and policymakers speeches to gauge when the Fed would start cutting rates. Markets are pricing in a 68% chance of the Fed starting its easing cycle in June, CME FedWatch tool showed. They have priced in 88 basis points of cuts this year.
That makes Powell’s congressional appearances starting on Wednesday a significant event, although analysts expect the Fed chair to stick to his message.
In the currency market, the Japanese yen yen strengthened 0.08% to 149.93 per dollar, while sterling was flat on the day at $1.2704 ahead of Britain’s budget announcement.
In cryptocurrency, bitcoin was hovering around $66,000, having breached a record high of $69,202 in the previous session, fuelled by investors pouring money into US spot exchange-traded crypto products.
Spot gold wobbled to $2,127.36 an ounce after touching all-time high of $2,141.59 on Tuesday.
US crude rose 0.29% to $78.38 per barrel and Brent was at $82.27, up 0.28% on the day.
Key figures
Tokyo – Nikkei 225 < DOWN 0.02% at 40,090.78 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index > UP 1.70% at 16,438.09 (close)
Shanghai – Composite < DOWN 0.26% at 3,039.93 (close)
London – FTSE 100 > UP 0.35% at 7,672.95 (0934 GMT)
New York – Dow < DOWN 1.04% at 38,585.19 (Tuesday close)
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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