Japan trade data in focus
Containers at a shipping terminal in Yokohama, Japan on Oct. 18, 2021. Japan’s trade deficit surged in September as imports overwhelmed export growth.
Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday, following losses on Wall Street and ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
Investors in Asia assessed trade data out of Japan ahead of a Bank of Japan rate decision this week.
The country’s exports grew 3.8% in November year-on-year, beating expectations of a 2.8% increase by economists polled by Reuters. Meanwhile, imports fell by 3.8%, coming in far below expectations of a 1% expansion.
The numbers put Japan’s trade balance at a deficit of 117.6 billion yen ($765.2 million), higher than expectations for a deficit of 688.9 billion yen.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the session 0.72% lower at 39,081.71. The broad-based Topix fell 0.31% to close at 2,719.87.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.12% to reach 2,484.43, while the small-cap Kosdaq jumped 0.45% to 697.57.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded down 0.06% to end the day at 8,309.4.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ticked up 0.95% in its final hour of trade to reach 19,880. Mainland China’s CSI 300 was up 0.51% to end at 3,941.89.
The People’s Bank of China will set its loan prime rates on Friday. The one-year LPR influences corporate loans and most household loans in China, while the five-year LPR serves as a benchmark for mortgage rates.
Markets are awaiting a rate decision from the Federal Reserve that will come Wednesday in the U.S. Traders are overwhelmingly expecting the Fed to deliver a 25-basis-point, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.
Trading on Tuesday in the U.S. saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumble for a ninth straight day, its first since 1978. The 30-stock average slid 267.58 points, or 0.61%, to settle at 43,449.90.
The S&P 500 lost 0.39% and closed at 6,050.61, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.32% to end at 20,109.06.
The Dow’s losing streak began the day after it closed above 45,000 for the first time ever earlier in the month and it comes at a time when the broader market is doing well.
The S&P 500 hit a new high on Dec. 6 and sits less than 1% from that level. The Nasdaq hit a record on Monday.
Driving the Dow’s losses has been a rotation into technology stocks and out of some of the more old-economy stocks that gained in November following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
