Asian Shares Fall Ahead Of Powell's Speech

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday as investors digested hawkish comments from Fed officials on the future rate hike path and looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech for direction.

A firmer dollar and a recovery in U.S. Treasury yields weighed on gold while crude prices held steady in Asian trading after falling more than 4 percent on Tuesday to their lowest since late July on the back of mixed Chinese trade data and easing Middle East tensions.

China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.16 percent to 3,052.37 in cautious trade ahead of a meet between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will host Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng for two days of talks this week before finance ministers of the APEC member nations officially kick off the summit Saturday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.58 percent to 17,568.46 ahead of the release of Chinese inflation data, due Thursday.

An upgrade to China's growth outlook by the International Monetary Fund and expectations that China will provide more support to the ailing property sector helped limit overall losses to some extent.

Japanese shares edged down slightly despite Moody's Investors Service affirming the country's A1 rating and maintaining a stable outlook.

The Nikkei average slid 0.33 percent to 32,166.48 while the broader Topix index settled 1.16 percent lower at 2,305.95.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial plunged 5 percent after it agreed to sell SMBC Rail Services to ITE Management L.P. for an undisclosed amount.

SoftBank lost 3 percent after WeWork, a startup backed by the company, filed for bankruptcy. Nintendo surged over 6 percent after raising its annual forecast.

Seoul stocks fell on concerns surrounding the country's ban on short selling. The Kospi average shed 0.91 percent to end at 2,421.62 due to a selling spree by foreign and retail investors. Battery stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure, with Samsung SDI losing 3.4 percent.

Australian markets edged up slightly as financials and technology stocks rose on optimism that top central banks are done with their monetary policy tightening.

The benchmark S&P ASX 200 rose 0.26 percent to 6,995.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.30 percent higher at 7,198.40.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P NZX-50 index fell 0.65 percent to 11,151.30.

U.S. stocks ended higher overnight as long-term Treasury yields fell after a solid auction of $48 billion in 3-year notes and ahead of auctions of the 10-year note and 30-year bond due later this week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to post their longest streak of gains in two years while the Dow edged up 0.2 percent to log a seventh straight day of gains.