Asia report: Most markets lower as traders look to FOMC
Most markets in Asia finished lower on Tuesday, as investors continued to look ahead to the US Federal Reserve’s September meeting for clues on the central bank’s monetary policy direction.
AUD/USD
$0.6416
23:00 19/04/24
GBP/NZD
NZD2.1007
23:53 19/04/24
Hang Seng
16,224.14
10:21 19/04/24
Nikkei 225
37,068.35
09:44 19/04/24
USD/JPY
¥154.6345
23:58 19/04/24
In Japan, markets bucked the regional trend as they returned from a long weekend away, with the Nikkei 225 rising 1.96% to 20,299.38 as the yen remained flat against the dollar, last sitting 0.01% stronger at JPY 111.56.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.18% at 3,356.65, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite lost 0.36% to 1,995.60.
Chinese web search company Baidu remained in focus, after its weekend announcement that it had signed on Herman Yu as chief financial officer.
Yu is the former CFO at microblogging platform Weibo, often described as China’s Twitter.
South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.09% at 2,416.05, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 0.38% to 28,051.41.
Technology stocks were down in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics shedding 0.69% after it reached a record high on Monday.
Investor focus remained firmly on the Fed, as the Federal Open Market Committee prepared to start its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday US time.
Markets were expecting the central bank to leave interest rate targets unchanged, although investors were still keen to hear more details on how it will unwind its $3.7trn balance sheet.
“Speculation around the impending FOMC meeting [is] driving the US dollar, with markets eyeing both the unwind of the balance sheet and any tweaks to the dot plot,” noted ANZ senior economist Felicity Emmett.
Oil prices remained steady through much of the Asian trading session, with Brent crude last up 0.61% at $55.82 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate rising 0.96% at $50.39.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.12% softer at 5,713.58, with the hefty financials subindex down 0.02% by end of play.
Minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s recent meeting showed there was confidence in the resilience of the country’s labour market, although it still expected wage growth to remain slow.
The central bank also reiterated its concerns about household debt levels, and the strength of the Australian dollar.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 added 0.08% to close at 7,764.53, led higher by independent dairy processor Synlait Milk, which finished ahead 5.5%.
The exporter had earlier hit an intraday record after it reported an 11% improvement in full-year profit, with the board signalling more growth in the current year and a move to branded consumer goods.
Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.53% at AUD 1.2496, while the Kiwi advanced 0.55% to NZD 1.3691.