Asian Markets Mixed Ahead Of Fed Policy

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the FOMC’s monetary policy announcement later in the day. Traders are look for clues about the outlook for interest rates amid concerns about the high rate of inflation, even as they are concerned about the resurgence of coronavirus infections in the region, particularly in China. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Wednesday, recouping the modest losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving just below the 7,400 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, on strength across most sectors after Australian composite and services PMI data released confirmed the country’s movement towards recovery.

Meanwhile, the upside is limited as the domestic coronavirus situation continues to be a concern, while the country gradually opens up after lifting lockdowns and restrictions in most places. Victoria reported 941 new cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths on Tuesday, with 18,362 total active cases across Victoria. NSW recorded only 190 new local cases and four deaths.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 91.90 points or 0.98 percent to 7,396.20, after touching a high of 7,431.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 70.40 points or 0.92 percent to 7,717.00. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is adding 2.5 percent and Mineral Resources is up almost 3 percent, while Rio Tinto and OZ Minerals are edging up 0.3 percent each. OZ Minerals is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are higher. Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Santos is edging up 0.4 percent and Beach energy is adding more than 1 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.5 percent, Xero is gaining almost 1 percent, Afterpay is edging up 0.3 percent and Appen is up almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is gaining almost 2 percent and National Australia Bank is up 1.5 percent, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank is adding almost 1 percent each. Commonwealth Bank has decided to add cryptocurrencies to its regular banking app from next year.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.4 percent each. Resolute Mining is flat.

Shares in AMP are surging more than 8 percent after the financial services company announced its full exit from the business of life insurance with the sale of its 19.13 percent stake in Resolution Life for $524 million.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia moved into expansion territory in October, the latest survey from Markit Economics revealed on Wednesday, with a services PMI score of 51.8. That’s up from 45.5 in September and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The report also showed that the composite index rose to 52.1 in October from 46.0 in September.

Meanwhile, the total number of building permits issued in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday, coming in at 18,090. That missed expectations for a decline of 2.0 percent following the 6.8 percent increase in August. The value of non-residential building approved fell 11.3 percent on month to A$4.504 billion. On a yearly basis, building permits gained 12.8 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.743 on Wednesday.

The Japanese stock market is closed on Wednesday in observance of Culture Day and will re-open on Thursday. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 113 yen-range on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is losing 1.2 percent and Hong Kong is down 0.8 percent, while Singapore and Malaysia are losing 0.2 and 0.3 percent, respectively. New Zealand Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.3 percent each. China is flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, with the major averages once again reaching new record closing highs. The continued strength on the day came even as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The major averages all finished the day moderately higher. The Dow advanced 138.79 points or 0.4 percent to 36,052.63, the Nasdaq rose 53.69 points or 0.3 percent to 15,649.60 and the S&P 500 climbed 16.98 points or 0.4 percent to 4,630.65.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose 0.5 percent and the German DAX Index advanced 0.9 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower Tuesday on concerns about growth after data showed a slowdown in Eurozone manufacturing activity amid rising input costs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled at $83.91 a barrel, losing $0.14 or 0.2 percent.

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