Stock market today: Asia markets mixed ahead of Fed decision; China economic data disappoint
HONG KONG — Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday as markets awaited an interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve, while China reported manufacturing contracted for a fourth straight month in January.
US futures and oil prices fell.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% to 36,286.71.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.1% to 2,497.09 after Samsung Electronics reported a 34% annual decline in operating profit for the past quarter.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.6% to 15,460.78, while the Shanghai Composite fell 1.5% to 2,788.55.
Official data show China’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 49.2 in January, up from 49.0 in December, but is still below the critical level of 50, which signals expansion rather than contraction. Weak demand in the world’s second-largest economy is holding back growth.
The Australian S&The P/ASX 200 rose 1.1% to 7,680.70 after a survey showed Australian inflation fell to a two-year low in the December quarter, with the consumer price index at 4.1%. This led to bets that the Reserve Bank would consider a rate cut in its next move.
India’s Sensex was 0.9% higher, while Bangkok’s SET fell 0.5%.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks fell on a quiet Tuesday, remaining near their record highs after a mixed set of earnings reports.
The S&The P500 fell 0.1% from its record high to 4,924.97. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 38,467.31, and the Nasdaq index fell 0.8% to 15,509.90.
UPS fell 8.2%, although it reported stronger earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates, and it also provided a forecast for full-year 2024 revenue that was weaker than expected.
Whirlpool fell 6.6% despite also reporting better-than-expected profits. The 2024 forecast of $16.9 billion in revenue was roughly $1 billion below analyst estimates.
General Motors helped offset these losses. The automaker rose 7.8% after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue.
Treasury yields were also mixed in the bond market, following reports showing the economy remains stronger than expected. One said consumer confidence is rising, while another suggested the labor market could be warmer than forecast.
U.S. employers advertised 9 million job openings at the end of December, slightly more than economists expected and slightly above November levels. Traders expected the data to show a cooling of openings.
A pullback would have been more in keeping with the trend that has taken Wall Street to a record high: a slowdown in economic growth strong enough to keep inflation in check, but not so much as to trigger a recession.
The hope for a continuation of this trend is what has Wall Street frothing at the possibility of several Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. Cuts would mark a sharp reversal from the Fed’s dramatic rate hikes of the past two years, and the cuts would boost the economy and investment prices.
The Federal Reserve began its latest policy meeting on interest rates on Tuesday, but virtually no one expects it to cut rates this time. That won’t stop economists and traders from analyzing every word coming out of the Fed after Wednesday’s meeting. They will look for indications that a rate cut could be coming at the next meeting in March.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond, the centerpiece of the bond market, fell to 4.03% from 4.06% late Tuesday.
In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude lost 33 cents to $77.49 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 36 cents to $82.14 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose from 147.59 yen to 147.81 Japanese yen. The euro was at $1.0818, down from $1.0845.