TOKYO – Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as global markets cautiously awaited the US central bank’s latest comments on the economic outlook.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 NIK,
abandoned first gains and fell 0.2% while South Korean Kospi 180721,
backed by 1%. S & P / ASX 200 XJO from Australia,
fell 0.7%. Hang Seng HSI of Hong Kong,
decreased by 0.2%, while the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP,
fell 0.4%. Singapore STI Reference Indices,
Taiwan Y9999,
and Indonesia JAKIDX,
slipped too.
Investors expect the latest economic and interest rate projections from the Federal Reserve, which are expected later. Economists expect Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to try to convince nervous financial markets that the central bank can continue to support without causing higher inflation.
These concerns have recently increased bond yields and decreased demand to buy shares.
The Fed meeting “has the potential to allay or raise some of the market’s recent concerns regarding rising bond yields,” said Jingyi Pan, IG’s senior market strategist in Singapore.
Wall Street ended a hectic day of trading, with indices closing mostly. Losses by banks, industrial stocks and consumer spending-dependent businesses, including cruise line operators, outweighed gains from Big Tech shares and communications services.
The S&P 500 SPX,
it fell 0.2% to 3,962.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
it lost 0.4% to 32,825.95. The Nasdaq COMP,
reduced the trend, benefiting from the rise in technology stocks and increasing by 0.1% to 13,471.57.
Investors weighed in on new economic data on Tuesday that showed Americans cut spending last month, in part due to bad weather in large parts of the country that kept shoppers away from stores and in part , because the December and January stimulus payments were running out.
“We’re still in the midst of returning to a more normal environment,” said Jason Pride, Glenmede’s director of private wealth investment. “Given the brutality of payments for government incentives, we will see the numbers jump.”
In the energy trade, US crude oil reference CLJ21,
fell 9 cents, to $ 64.71 a barrel, in e-commerce on the New York Stock Exchange. It lost 59 cents on Tuesday, to $ 64.80. Brent cru BRNK21,
the international standard, lost 15 cents to $ 68.24 a barrel.
In foreign exchange trading, the US dollar USDJPY,
rose to 109.12 Japanese yen from 108.99 yen.