Asian Markets Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders largely refrained from making significant moves after hawkish comments from a few US Fed officials again raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari suggested interest rates may need to remain at current levels for an "extended period." He added that he could not rule out the Fed once again raising rates, calling the bar for hiking rates "quite high" but "not infinite.

Fed Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said Monday that he feels the risks are weighted towards more inflation. New York counterpart John Williams said that the timing of rate cuts will depend on the totality of the incoming data.

Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,800 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in technology and energy stocks.

The Reserve Bank of Australia also held the cash rate unchanged at 4.35% for the fourth time since last raising it in November.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 4.10 points or 0.05 percent to 7,789.20, after touching a high of 7,814.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 3.60 points or 0.05 percent to 8,061.90. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each. Origin Energy is flat. In the tech space, Xero and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Appen and Zip are gaining almost 1 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.5 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Newmont is edging up 0.3 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.657 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Wednesday, giving up some of the sharp gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to stay a tad above the 38,300 level, with losses across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,303.39, down 531.71 points or 1.37 percent, after hitting a low of 38,283.98 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is also down almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Screen Holdings is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.3 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging down 0.4 percent and Sony is losing almost 4 percent, while Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are declining almost 1 percent each.

Among other major losers, Ricoh plunging more than 7 percent, while Nintendo, Nomura Holdings, and NEC are declining almost 4 percent each. Dai-ichi Life and Fujikura are losing more than 3 percent each, while Fujitsu, Fuji Electric, East Japan Railway, Nitori Holdings and Credit Saison are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Yokogawa Electric is surging more than 7 percent, while Oriental Land, Socionext and Sumitomo Pharma are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 155 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 0.1 and 0.9 percent each. Hong Kong and Malaysia are up 0.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively. New Zealand and South Korea are relatively flat. On the Wall Street, stocks saw modest strength throughout much of the trading session on Tuesday but gave back ground in afternoon trading to end the day little changed. The Dow still managed to close higher for the fifth consecutive session, reaching its best closing level in a month.

The major averages ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq edged down 16.69 points or 0.1 percent to 16,332.56, the Dow crept up 31.99 points or 0.1 percent to 38,884.26 and the S&P 500 inched up 6.96 points or 0.1 percent to 5,187.70.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil prices settled slightly lower on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.10 at $78.38 a barrel.