Asian Markets Trading Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders ponder on the impact of the geopolitical situation following reports of Russian missile strikes crossing into Poland and killing two people. Meanwhile, data showing a smaller than expected increase in U.S. producer prices further raised hopes the US Fed will slow the pace of interest rate hikes as soon as next month. Asian Markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

"It's premature to conclude a dovish Fed pivot is on the way, though Vice Chair Lael Brainard's comments yesterday, on top of downside surprises in both October CPI and PPI reports, raise the odds," said Will Compernolle, Senior Economist at FHN Financial.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 80.6 percent chance the Fed will raise rates by only 50 basis points next month and a 19.4 percent chance of another 75 basis point rate hike.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,100 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the weakness in financial stocks partially offset by gains in heavyweight mining and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices.

The International Monetary Fund said Australia needs to continue raising interest rates to rein in inflation as cost of living continue to rise, despite rising risks of an economic slowdown.

The geopolitical situation also weighed on market sentiment following reports of Russian missile strikes crossing into Poland and killing two people.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 22.60 points or 0.32 percent to 7,119.00, after hitting a low of 7,142.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 18.90 points or 0.26 percent to 7,326.50. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, , Fortescue Metals and Mineral Resources are gaining more than 1 percent each, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. OZ Minerals is in a trading halt as BHP is rumoured to float a sweetened offer for the company.

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy is edging up 0.3 percent, Santos is gaining almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.3 percent, Zip is surging almost 8 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent, while Appen is losing more than 4 percent and Xero is declining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is losing more than 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank is slipping almost 2 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are declining almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.4 percent and Evolution Mining is declining almost 3 percent, while Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.4 percent and Resolute Mining is soaring more than 8 percent.

In economic news, Australia's wage price index climbed 3.1 percent on year in the third quarter of 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - exceeding expectations for 3.0 percent and up from 2.6 percent in the second quarter. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, wages rose 1.0 percent - topping forecasts for 0.9 percent and up from 0.7 percent in the three months prior.

In other news, shares in Nufarm are surging 9 percent after reporting a net profit for the full-year 2022 that rose by two thirds and provided upbeat outlook.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.675 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Wednesday, giving up the slight gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 staying below the 28,000 mark, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are still reacting to data showing the country's economy unexpectedly shrinking for the first time in a year in the third quarter. The geopolitical situation also weighed on market sentiment following reports of Russian missile strikes crossing into Poland and killing two people.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,955.85, down 34.32 points or 0.12 percent, after hitting a low of 27,743.15 earlier. Japanese stocks closed slightly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are gaining more than 1 percent each, Advantest is advancing almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing almost 1.5 percent, while Canon, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the other major losers, Olympus is plunging more than 5 percent, while T&D Holdings, Mitsubishi Motors and Dai-ichi Life are losing almost 4 percent each. Subaru, Tokio Marine, NTN and Sompo Holdings are declining more than 3 percent each, while Terumo, Isetan Mitsukoshi, MS&AD Insurance, Bridgestone, Nissan Chemical and Yokohama Rubber are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Pacific Metals is gaining more than 4 percent.

In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent on month in September, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday - coming in at 868.0 billion yen. That was shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.7 percent following the 5.8 percent contraction in August.

On a yearly basis, core machine orders rose 2.9 percent - again missing expectations for a gain of 7.4 percent and down from 9.7 percent in the previous month. For the third quarter of 2022, core machine orders fell 1.6 percent on quarter and gained 7.9 percent on year. For the fourth quarter, orders are forecast to add 3.6 percent on quarter and 5.3 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 139 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.2 and 0.7 percent each. Taiwan and New Zealand are up 0.4 and 0.1 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading session but managed to close mostly higher after showing a substantial move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 162.19 points or 1.5 percent to 11,358.41 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 34.48 points or 0.9 percent to 3,991.73 and the Dow inched up 56.22 points or 0.2 percent to 33,592.92.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher Tuesday, thanks to the smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. producer prices in October. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.94 at 86.81 a barrel.