Asian Markets Mixed Amid Cautious Trades

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious and are consolidating their position ahead of the US Fed's monetary policy announcement later in the day. A weak U.S. dollar and lower bond yields contributed aided market sentiment. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points, but traders have expressed optimism the central bank will signal plans to slow the pace of rate hikes at upcoming meetings.

However, the optimism was partly offset by a report from the Labor Department showing a jump in U.S. job openings in the month of September.

The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving to nearly the 7,000 mark, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gain across most sectors, led by materials and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices.

Traders are also digesting the Reserve Bank of Australia modest interest rate hike, while cautiously awaiting the US Federal Reserve policy decision later in the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 21.80 points or 0.31 percent to 6,998.70, after touching a high of 7,011.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.50 points or 0.30 percent to 7,191.10. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, OZ Minerals is gaining almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is adding more than 1 percent, BHP Group is advancing almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is up almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is flat.

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 2 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 3 percent, Santos is up more than 1 percent and Origin Energy is advancing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping almost 2 percent, while Zip and Xero are declining more than 3 percent each. Appen is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining adding 1.5 percent, Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.2 percent and Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

In economic news, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 5.8 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday, coming in at 16,455. That exceeded expectations for a decline of 7.0 percent following the 28.1 percent surge in August. On a yearly basis, approvals were down 13.0 percent.

In other news, shares in Lake Resources are surging 8 percent after the lithium miner completed the onsite construction of a modular processing demonstration plant for its Kachi lithium project in Argentina.

In economic news, the total value of owner-occupied home loans in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 9.3 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - standing at A$16.81 billion. That was well shy of expectations for a decline of 2.6 percent following the 2.7 percent contraction in August. On a yearly basis, overall loans sank 18.5 percent, owner-occupied home loans dropped 19.9 percent and investment lending declined 15.3 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.641 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is slightly higher in volatile trading on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 staying below the 27,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious ahead of the US Fed's rate decision later in the day.

Traders also digesting the Band of Japan's decision to maintain a negative interest rate of -0.1 percent.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 27,686.05, up 7.13 points or 0.03 percent, after hitting a low of 27,546.88 and a high of 27,692.55 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.3 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.3 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is soaring almost 9 percent on better-than-expected third quarter earnings and Panasonic is surging almost 6 percent on better-than-expected second-quarter profit despite a decline in profit, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.3 percent. Canon is flat.

Among the other major losers, Kao is plunging more than 8 percent, CyberAgent is sliding more than 7 percent, Tokyo Electric Power is losing almost 5 percent, Sumitomo Chemical is slipping more than 4 percent and Nissan Chemical is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Nichirei is soaring more than 9 percent and NTN is surging almost 7 percent, while TDK and Yokogawa Electric are gaining almost 6 percent each. Sojitz is adding 5.5 percent and Nippon Steel is up more than 4 percent, while OKUMA and Inpex are advancing more than 3 percent each. Fujitsu, Marubeni, Fujikura, Mitsubishi Motors and Pacific Metals are all rising almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board feel that the country is continuing to recover from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, minutes from the bank's September 21-22 monetary policy meeting revealed on Wednesday. At the meeting, the BoJ decided to maintain a negative interest rate of -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the central bank.

The monetary base in Japan dropped 6.9 percent on year in October, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday - coming in at 615.262 trillion yen. That follows the 3.3 percent decline in September. Banknotes in circulation rose 2.9 percent on year, while coins in circulation fell 3.2 percent. Current account balances were down 9.0 percent on year, including a 10.3 percent drop in reserve balances. Seasonally adjusted, the monetary base plummeted 33.0 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Wednesday.

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

On Wall Street, stocks fell into the red after a positive start on Tuesday, and then stayed weak right till the end of the day's trading session to close on a negative note. Investors digested the latest batch of earnings updates and economic data, and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due on Wednesday.

The major averages all fell after opening higher and ended in negative territory. The Dow ended down 79.75 points or 0.24 percent at 32,653.20, the S&P 500 settled at 3,856.10, down 15.88 points or 0.41 percent and the Nasdaq ended down 97.30 points or 0.89 percent at 10,890.85.

The major European markets moved higher on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 1.29 percent, Germany's DAX gained 0.64 percent, and France's CAC 40 surged 0.98 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday on a weak dollar, a reduction in OPEC crude output, an upward revision in oil demand forecast by OPEC, and record U.S. oil export data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December jumped $1.84 or 2.1 percent at $88.37 a barrel.