Asia markets mostly lower after investors assess Australia inflation data
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly lower on Wednesday as investors assessed Australia’s inflation numbers for April and consumer confidence data from Japan.
Australia’s weighted consumer price index rose 3.6% year-on-year in April,greater than the 3.4% gain forecast in a Reuters poll. The reading was also higher than the 3.5% reported for March.
In a preview note last week, analysts from ING said: “One more bad inflation report from Australia, and we will consider removing the final cut we have pencilled in by the [Reserve Bank of Australia] in the fourth quarter of this year. Two more, and we may consider adding a rate hike.”
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3% after the CPI announcement, closing at 7,665.6.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.77% to 38,556.87, while the broad-based Topix dropped 0.97% to end at 2,741.62. Both indexes reversed course from the open to trade lower.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.67% and closed at 2,677.3, dragged by a 3.09% loss in heavyweight Samsung Electronics as one of its unions announced a strike. The small-cap Kosdaq was 1.48% lower.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.67%, leading losses in Asia, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.12% to close at 3,613.52, the only major Asian benchmark in positive territory.
Overnight in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite hit another record high to surpass 17,000, powered by a 7% gain in tech darling Nvidia.
The S&P 500 inched up just 0.02%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.55%.
While Nvidia’s rally disguised troubles in the broader market, the blue-chip Dow was weighed down by a drop in Merck and other health-care stocks.
Meanwhile, more than 350 stocks in the broad S&P 500 were negative in the session. The index’s health-care, industrials and financials sectors all finished more than 1% in the red.
Source from CNBC : https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/29/asia-markets-poised-to-open-mixed-after-nasdaq-hits-fresh-record-high.html