Stockmarkets in Asia struggled on Wednesday, ahead of the Federal Reserve decision on official interest rates later in the day, which will likely see a 75 basis points hike.
Most finished mixed with moves in either direction, unremarkable.
“We suspect Chair Powell will try very hard to avoid saying anything that might be misconstrued as a signal that the inevitable step down in the size of tightening is a pivot toward the end of the tightening cycle,” Kevin Cummins, chief U.S. economist at NatWest Markets told Reuters Wednesday.
“Given that the inflation-related data have yet to show any signs of any moderation, we lean a bit more toward officials holding off from signalling they are reducing the size of hikes just yet.”
In Japan, the Nikkei 225ease 15.63 points or 0.06 percent to 27,663.39.
The Australian All Ordinaries edged up 8.20 points or 0.11 percent to 7,177.80.
In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 declined 33.86 points or 0.30 percent to 11,282.78.
China’s Shanghai Composite increased 34.17 points or 1.15 percent to 3,003.37.
In South Korea, the Kospi Composite inched up 1.65 points or 0.07 percent to 2,336.87.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was still trading at the time of writing, ahead 370 points.
The U.S. dollar moved higher in Asia Wednesday. The euro slipped to 0.9878 by the Sydney close. The British pound edged down to 1.1493. The Japanese yen was a tad higher at 147.32. The Swiss franc fell to 0.9989.
The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.3607. The Australian dollar was marginally lower at 0.6409. The New Zealand dollar was firm at 0.5865.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite did worst percentage-wise, dropping 97.30 points or 0.89 percent to 10,890.85.
The Standard and Poor’s 500 retreated 15.88 points or 0.41 percent to 3,856.10.
The Dow Jones industrials decreased 79.75 points or 0.24 percent to 32,653.20.
