Asian Markets Mostly Lower

Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Wednesday following mixed lead overnight from Wall Street as investors stayed cautious as they looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. They are also looking for central bank’s forecasts for the economy, inflation and interest rates. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.

The Australian stock market is declining on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 below the 6,800 level, after three straight sessions of gains, following inconclusive cues overnight from Wall Street as investors stayed cautious while they look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement. Gains in the technology stocks were more than offset by weakness in materials and energy stocks amid weak commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 49.10 points or 0.72 percent to 6,778.00, after falling to a low of 6,775.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is lower by 45.10 points or 0.64 percent to 7,033.90. Australian stocks closed higher on Tuesday.

In the tech space, Appen is edging up 0.1 percent, while Afterpay is adding more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are lower, with Evolution Mining losing almost 3 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources are down almost 1 percent each.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent and Rio Tinto is down nearly 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are also lower after crude oil prices dropped overnight. Oil Search is declining more than 1 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are down almost 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.4 percent.

Shares in Corporate Travel Management are plunging more than 6 percent after the business travel firms founder Jamie Pherous offloaded 1.5 million shares of the company.

In economic news, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia edged up 0.02 percent on month in February, after a downwardly revised 0.1 percent drop in January.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.773 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is rising after early losses on Wednesday, with the benchmark Nikkei index moving above the 29,900 level, following inconclusive cues overnight from Wall Street as investors stayed cautious while they await Federal Reserve’s policy announcement.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 29,946.21, up 25.12 points or 0.08 percent, after hitting a low of 29,825.16 in early trades. Japanese stocks closed higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is up almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent, Advantest is up almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is adding more than 2 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding 0.4 percent.

The major exporters Panasonic is edging up 0.4 percent, while Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 1 percent. Sony is flat.

Shares in Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings plunged almost 9 percent, the most on the Nikkei, after Japan’s atomic regulator found safety breaches at the company’s Kashiwazaki Kariwa station.

Among the other major gainers, CyberAgent is gaining almost 3 percent, while Keio, Takeda Pharma and Toto are adding more than 2 percent each. DIC, Shin-Etsu Chemical, NEC, Omron, Comsys Holdings, Nitto and IHI are alls rising almost 2 percent each.

Conversely, Kobe Steel is losing almost 3 percent, while Nippon Steel, Shimizu, Rakuten, Kajima and Terumo are down more than 2 percent each.

In economic news, Japan had a merchandise trade surplus of 217.381 billion yen in February, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday – down 80.5 percent on year. That was shy of expectations for a surplus of 420 billion yen following the downwardly revised 325.4 billion yen deficit in January (originally -323.9 billion yen).

Exports dropped 4.5 percent on year, also missing forecasts for a decline of 0.8 percent after rising 6.4 percent in the previous month. Imports jumped an annual 11.8 percent versus expectations for an increase of 11.9 percent following the 9.5 percent contraction a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 109 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand and South Korea are down 0.9 percent each, while China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia are all lower by 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. However, Taiwan is edging up.

On Wall Street, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday after ending the previous session firmly positive. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged higher, the Dow and the S&P 500 pulled back off yesterday’s record closing highs.

The Nasdaq gave back ground after jumping as much as 1.2 percent but still ended the day up 11.86 points or 0.1 percent at 13,471.57. Meanwhile, the Dow fell 127.51 points or 0.4 percent to 32,825.95 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.23 points or 0.2 percent to 3,962.71.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday amid concerns of a likely drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $0.59 or 0.9 percent at $64.80 per barrel, falling for a third straight session.