Hong Kong (AP) In anticipation of an update on U.S. consumer inflation that was anticipated later in the day, Asian equities were mixed on Wednesday after U.S. indexes dipped lower on Tuesday.
Oil prices increased but U.S. futures saw minimal movement.
The Shanghai Composite index was up 0.2% at 3,430.25 and the Hong Kong Hang Seng was down 0.1% at 20,294.54 as officials gathered in Beijing for an annual planning meeting that is anticipated to establish growth goals and economic policies for the upcoming year.
Top Chinese officials met with the Politburo of the ruling Communist Party earlier this week and decided on a fairly loose monetary policy. That is the first departure from a more cautious, responsible approach in a decade. Though economists were wary of any drastic moves, state media readouts suggested more vigorous stimulus to assist the second-largest economy in the world.
After the political unrest of the previous week, South Korea’s market rebounded for a second day in a row. After the nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stayed at 2.7% in November, unchanged from the previous month, the Kospi increased by 0.7% to 2,433.57.
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press
Following data showing that wholesale inflation in Japan increased 3.7% year over year in November, the benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to 39,261.03, adding to pressure on the Bank of Japan to hike interest rates. This was the third consecutive month of increases.
Next week, Japan’s central bank will convene for a two-day policy meeting. The market generally anticipates that the bank will increase short-term interest rates from their current 0.25% level.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.4% to 8,357.80.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,034.91 on Tuesday, one day after reversing course from its most recent all-time high. As momentum slows after a strong surge that has the benchmark index on course for one of its greatest years of the millennium, those were the index’s first back-to-back losses in almost a month.
The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.3% to 19,687.24, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3% to 44,247.83.
The last major pieces of information the Fed will receive before its meeting next week, when many investors anticipate this year’s third rate cut, are an update on consumer inflation on Wednesday and a report on wholesale inflation on Thursday.
After bringing inflation close to its 2% target, the Fed has begun lowering its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September in an effort to relieve pressure on the faltering labor market. The economy would benefit from lower rates, but inflation might also be fueled more by them.
The S&P 500 has set numerous milestones this year, in large part due to expectations of a string of cuts through next year.
Late Monday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury increased from 4.20% to 4.22%.
Mortgage rates have resisted the Fed’s efforts to lower its main interest rate, staying high instead. The housing sector has been hindered by this, and although homebuilder Toll Brothers’ profit and revenue for the most recent quarter exceeded analysts’ estimates, the company’s stock plummeted 6.9%.
As the luxury builder nears the start of the spring selling season in mid-January, CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the company has been experiencing high demand since the fiscal year began six weeks ago.
In other transactions, computerized trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange saw a 37-cent increase in the price of U.S. benchmark crude oil, which now stands at $68.96 a barrel. The worldwide benchmark, Brent crude, increased by 40 cents to $72.59 a barrel.
The value of the US dollar dropped from 151.93 to 151.48 Japanese yen. The euro’s value remained constant at $1.0528.
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Stan Choe, an AP Business Writer, made a contribution.
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