Asian Shares Mixed Ahead Of Fed Meeting

RTTNews | vor 1135 Tagen

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks struggled for direction before ending mixed on Tuesday as investors braced for a busy week of earnings and economic data in the United States.

Fears about economic growth continued to weigh after top U.S. retailer Walmart struck a downbeat tone on the health of the U.S. consumer. Tech heavyweights Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are due to report their financial results this week.

The dollar held just below multi-decade highs while oil prices rose nearly 2 percent in Asian trade, adding to overnight gains on expectations that Russia's reduction in natural gas supply to Europe could encourage a switch to crude.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday, with investors looking for clues about the future pace or rate hikes.

The second quarter GDP figure for the U.S. is scheduled to be released on Thursday and a negative print would mean that the world's largest economy is in a technical recession.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.83 percent to 3,277.44 after reports that government authorities plan to establish a bailout fund for certain property developers.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 1.67 percent to 20,905.88. Alibaba Group shares surged 4.8 percent after the world's biggest e-commerce company said it would apply to elevate the status of its Hong Kong-traded shares to make them more accessible to mainland Chinese buyers.

Japanese shares ended lower as the minutes of Bank of Japan's June meeting cited the need to watch the impact of financial and forex market moves on the economy and prices.

The Nikkei average slipped 0.16 percent to 27,655.21 while the broader Topix index closed marginally lower at 1,943.17. Shipping and pharma stocks led losses while heavyweight SoftBank Group jumped 3.2 percent.

Seoul stocks rose modestly to extend gains for a second straight session after data showed GDP growth unexpectedly picked up in the second quarter. The Kospi average edged up 0.39 percent to settle at 2,412.96.

Australian markets ended slightly higher ahead of inflation data due on Wednesday. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 rose 0.26 percent to 6,807.30 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.27 percent higher at 7,025.20.

Mining and energy stocks topped the gainers list on the back of higher iron ore and crude prices.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's S&P NZX-50 index dropped 0.29 percent to 11,166.56. U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as investors looked ahead to a busy week of earnings. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4 percent, while the Dow edged up 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent.

Australia Trade Data Due On Thursday

Australia will on Thursday release August numbers for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In July, imports were down 3.1 percent on month and exports rose 6.0 percent for a trade surplus of A$5.365 billion.

RTTNews | vor 1Std 8 Minuten

U.S. Dollar Falls After Weak Job Openings Data

The U.S. dollar weakened against its major counterparts in the New York session on Wednesday, following the release of weak job openings data for July.

RTTNews | vor 1Std 14 Minuten

Swiss Market Closes On Bright Note

The Switzerland market closed on a bright note on Wednesday after holding firm right through the day's trading session thanks to sustained buying at several counters from across various sectors.

RTTNews | vor 5Std 6 Minuten

European Stocks Close Higher On Bargain Hunting, Fairly Positive Economic Data

European stocks closed broadly higher on Wednesday as slightly encouraging data on private sector activity in the region aided sentiment. Bargain hunting at several counters after Tuesday's decline helped as well in pushing up prices.

RTTNews | vor 5Std 30 Minuten

Consumer Staples, Materials Stocks Rise As TSX Hits New Record High

The Canadian market is up in positive territory a little past noon on Wednesday, thanks to strong gains in consumer staples, materials and technology sectors. Energy and healthcare stocks are weak, while shares from rest of the sectors are turning in a mixed performance.

RTTNews | vor 6Std 23 Minuten

U.S. Job Openings Fall To Ten-Month Low In July

Job openings in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in ten months in July, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday. The Labor Department said job openings dipped to 7.181 million in July after tumbling to a downwardly revised 7.357 million in June.

RTTNews | vor 7Std 36 Minuten

U.S. Factory Orders Slump Roughly In Line With Estimates In July

A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed an extended slump by new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of July. The Commerce Department said factory orders fell by 1.3 percent in July after plunging by 4.8 percent in June. Economists had expected factory orders to decrease by 1.4 percent.

RTTNews | vor 8Std 42 Minuten

Eurozone Private Sector Growth At 1-Year High

The euro area private sector expanded at the fastest pace in a year in August but the overall pace was sluggish as the service sector held back growth, final survey data from S&P Global showed on Wednesday. The HCOB composite output index rose to 51.0 in August from 50.9 in July. The score was slightly below the initial estimate of 51.1.

RTTNews | vor 9Std 58 Minuten

EURUSD	1.16601	GBPUSD	1.34417	AUDUSD	0.6544
USDJPY	148.001	USDCAD	1.37931	USDCHF	0.80387