Stock market today: Asian stocks are mixed ahead of key US inflation data
HONG KONG — Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday after US indexes turned lower on Tuesday, ahead of a update on US consumer inflation due later in the day.
US futures were little changed and oil prices rose.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.1% to 20,294.54 and the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.2% to 3,430.25 as leaders called a meeting. annual planning meeting in Beijing, which is expected to set economic policies and growth targets for the coming year.
Earlier this week, top Chinese leaders agreed on a “moderately accommodative” monetary policy at a meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo. That is the first step in ten years away from a more cautious, “cautious” position. State media showed talk of more robust stimulus measures to support the world’s second-largest economy, but analysts remained skeptical about any dramatic measures.
The South Korean market rose for the second day in a row, recovering from last week’s political turmoil. The Kospi added 0.7% to 2,433.57 after November’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.7% from the previous month.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to 39,261.03 after data showed Japan’s wholesale inflation rose 3.7% year-on-year in November, marking three straight months of gains and increasing pressure on the Bank of Japan to to increase interest rates further.
The Japanese central bank will hold a two-day policy meeting next week. Markets widely expect the bank to raise short-term interest rates from the current level of 0.25%.
The Australian S&The P/ASX 200 fell 0.4% to 8,357.80.
On Tuesday the S&A day later, the P500 fell 0.3% to 6,034.91 retreating from his last all-time record. These were the first back-to-back losses for the index in nearly a month, as momentum slows after a big rally that puts the benchmark index on track for one of its best years of the millennium.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 44,247.83, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3% to 19,687.24.
Wednesday’s update on consumer inflation and a Thursday report on wholesale inflation will be the last big chunks of data the Federal Reserve will get before its meeting next week, where many investors expect the third cut this year interest rates.
The Fed has been to relax the key interest rate from a 20-year high since September, to ease pressure on a slowing labor market after inflation nearly fell to the 2% target. Lower rates would help support the economy, but they could also fuel inflation.
The expectations for a series of cuts until next year have been an important reason that the S&The P 500 has set so many records this year.
The yield on the 10-year government bond rose to 4.22% from 4.20% at the end of Monday.
Even though the Fed has cut its key interest rate, Mortgage rates have been more persistentremains high. That has hampered the housing sector and shares of homebuilder Toll Brothers fell 6.9% even as they delivered profit and revenue that exceeded analyst expectations for the latest quarter.
CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the luxury builder has seen strong demand since the start of the fiscal year six weeks ago, an encouraging sign as the start of the spring sales season approaches in mid-January.
In other trades, U.S. benchmark crude rose 37 cents to $68.96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, added 40 cents to $72.59 a barrel.
The US dollar fell from 151.93 yen to 151.48 Japanese yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.0528.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.