Stock market today: Asia stocks mixed after Wall Street slumps to worst day in weeks

HONG KONG — Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday after plunging Big Tech stocks dragged Wall Street to its worst day in three weeks.

US futures and oil prices rose.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was virtually flat at 40,090.78.

Hong Kong’s benchmark rebounded 1.4% to 16,385.90, ahead of reports from top Chinese economic officials on the sidelines of the annual session of the country’s ceremonial legislature. A day earlier, yields had fallen 2.6% after China’s prime minister said the country’s economic growth target this year is around 5% and outlined plans for only modest stimulus to boost spending and investment. stimulate.

The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.2% to 3,040.82.

Meetings on Wednesday could provide more details on the government’s plans to stimulate China’s economy as growth slows.

“While China is selling economic resilience, if not rejuvenation, no one is buying yet. What is worrying is the austerity of the incentives and signals embedded in the NPC,” said Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Securities in a commentary.

In Seoul, the Kospi fell 0.3% to 2,641.49.

South Korea’s inflation accelerated in February, with the consumer price index rising 3.1% from the same month a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday. The Bank of Korea kept interest rates stable for the ninth time in a row last month, while inflation remains higher than the annual target of 2%.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Australian S&The P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 7,733.50 after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the economy grew 0.2% in the latest quarter. India’s Sensex fell 0.4% and Bangkok’s SET rose 1%.

On Tuesday the S&The P500 fell 1% to 5,078.65, its second straight loss after closing at a record high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1% to 38,585.19, and the Nasdaq composite led the market lower with a 1.7% decline to 15,939.59.

Apple’s 2.8% decline was one of the biggest drags on the market. The company has been grappling with concerns about sluggish iPhone sales in China, where it faces fierce competition and a faltering economy.

Bitcoin briefly rose above $69,000 on Tuesday, surpassing the 2021 record, before falling back below $63,000. It is on the rise in part thanks to new exchange-traded funds that offer investors easier access to the cryptocurrency. This has roughly tripled in the past twelve months, but is notorious for huge swings in both directions that can occur painfully and suddenly.

Hopes for coming rate cuts got a boost after a report showed that growth in the U.S. construction, health care and other services sectors slowed more than economists expected last month.

Perhaps more importantly for the market, the report also states that prices paid by service companies increased more slowly in February than in January. A separate report said U.S. factory orders weakened more than expected in January.

Wall Street’s hope was that the economy would continue to develop, but not at such a strong pace that it would continue to put upward pressure on inflation. That’s because traders want the Federal Reserve to cut rates this year, something that suggests will only happen if inflation definitively cools toward the 2% target.

Following Tuesday’s reports, there have been growing expectations among traders that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting rates in June. The Fed’s key interest rate is at its highest level since 2001 in hopes of curbing inflation. Any cuts would ease pressure on the economy and the financial system.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is set to testify before Congress on Wednesday, which could further influence expectations about when rate cuts could begin.

On the bond market, the yield on ten-year government bonds fell on Wednesday from 4.22% the day before to 4.16% on Wednesday.

In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude added 29 cents to $78.44 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 23 cents to $82.27 a barrel.

The US dollar fell from 150.04 yen to 149.89 Japanese yen. The euro rose from $1.0855 to $1.0859.