Sydney, April 26, (dpa/GNA) – Asian stocks fell on Wednesday, though regional losses remained capped by consensus-beating earnings results from tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet.
Economic jitters weighed on sentiment after the release of weak US economic data. Interest-rate worries persisted, with investors focusing on upcoming US GDP data and PCE inflation for additional clue son the Fed’s policy path.
Chinese shares fluctuated before ending little changed on doubts about the strength of economy recovery in the country.
Sino-US tensions also weighed after a group of nine Republican senators called on the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Chinese cloud companies, citing national security concerns.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished marginally lower at 3,264.10 ahead of industrial profits data, due out Thursday and the upcoming May Day “Golden Week” holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.71% to 19,757.27, reversing an early slide.
Japanese shares ended notably lower and the yen inched up slightly as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) policy meeting loomed. The Nikkei average slipped 0.71% to 28,416.47, retreating from an eight-month high as weak results from First Republic Bank revived concerns about the health of the US banking sector. The broader Topix index closed 0.89% lower at 2,023.90.
Banks led losses, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial falling around 2% each. Mitsubishi Motors fell 2.6% after the automaker announced a one-time charge of about $78 million related to slowing sales at its China unit.
Seoul stocks gave up early gains to finish lower, with the Kospi average closing 0.17% lower at 2,484.83. Chipmaker SK Hynix rallied 2.2% after the company said it expects market circumstances to improve in the second half of this year.
Australian markets ended flat with a negative bias as data showed inflation in the country eased from 33-year highs in the first quarter of the year.
Miners retreated, outweighing gains in the energy sector after an uptick in oil prices. Gold miners surged, with Newcrest gaining 1.7%. Diversified miner Mineral Resources plunged 9.7% after reporting weaker than expected production volumes in mining services.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index settled 0.76% lower at 11,934.98.
US stocks fell the most in a month overnight and benchmark Treasury yields dropped as soft economic data and disappointing earnings updates from the likes of First Republic and UPS stoked recession fears.
A measure of US consumer confidence hit a nine-month low and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index showed contraction for a fourth straight month while new home sales unexpectedly spiked to their highest level in a year in March, separate reports showed.
The Dow lost 1%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2% and the S&P 500 shed 1.6%.
GNA