CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid rising ambiguity over the outlook for interest rates after US Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave little indication about the future path of interest rates. Renewed trade tensions with the United States and the escalating tensions in Europe and the Middle East are weighing on market sentiment. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.
Speaking at an event Rhode Island, Powell described equity prices as 'fairly highly valued' following the recent run to record highs. Powell also addressed the outlook for monetary policy, noting that the Fed is facing a 'challenging situation' as near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside.
However, Fed Governor Stephen Miran reiterated his call for substantially lower interest rates. Notably, at last week's Fed meeting he had advocated for a 50 basis point rate cut.
Fed Bank of St. Louis President Alberto Musalem noted he sees limited room for more rate cuts. His Cleveland counterpart Beth Hammack also called for caution in easing policy. General consensus in the markets is running in favor of two more cuts before the end of the year.
According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, investors are betting on a 94.1% chance of a 25 basis point interest rate cut at the October 28-29 Fed meeting.
Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, snapping a three-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 8,800 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in gold miners, financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in iron ore miners and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 83.90 points or 0.95 percent to 8,762.00, after hitting a low of 8,748.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 86.60 points or 0.95 percent to 9,051.20. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is gaining more than 2 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent, Santos is adding more than 1 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block, Appen and Xero are losing more than 1 percent each, while Zip is declining almost 5 percent and WiseTech Global is slipping almost 3 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and National Australia bank are losing almost 2 percent each, while Westpac is declining more than 2 percent and Commonwealth Bank is down almost 1 percent.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Resolute Mining is declining more than 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent. Newmont is edging up 0.2 percent.
In other news, shares in Race Oncology are soaring more than 12 percent after achieving an important milestone with Korean regulatory approval for its investigational anticancer drug RC220.
Shares in Barton Gold are jumping more than 11 percent after the gold miner announced promising new gold and silver exploration results.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Wednesday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 45,450 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 45,300.30, up 193.36 points or 0.43 percent, after hitting a low of 45,205.47 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly higher on Monday ahead of the holiday on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is down almost 1 percent, while Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.1 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is gaining 1.5 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent and Panasonic is gaining more than 2 percent, while Sony is losing more than 3 percent and Canon is down almost 1 percent.
Among other major losers, NEXON is losing more than 5 percent and Tokyo Electric Power is slipping almost 4 percent, while Sumitomo Chemical, Omron, Taiyo Yuden, Tosoh and Sumco are declining more than 3 percent each. Nidec, Mercari and Nitto Denko are down almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, IHI is surging more than 5 percent, while Suzuki Motor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi are gaining more than 3 percent each. Otsuka Holdings, Olympus and Aeon are adding almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, The S&P Global Japan PMI data showed September manufacturing activity remained in contraction at 48.4 in September from a final reading of 49.7 in August, falling short of expectations of 50.2, according to preliminary estimates. This marked the 14th contraction in factory activity over the past 15 months and the steepest decline since March.
The services PMI edged down to 53.0 in September 2025 from a final 53.1 in the prior month, a preliminary reading showed. It marked the lowest figure since June despite pointing to the sixth straight month of increase in the services sector.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is down 1.1 percent, while New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.2 percent each. Hong Kong and Indonesia are up 0.3 and 1.1 percent, respectively. China is relatively flat.
On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past few sessions. The major averages all moved to the downside, pulling back off Monday's record closing highs.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, slumping 215.50 points or 1.0 percent to 22,573.47. The S&P 500 slid 36.83 points or 0.6 percent to 6,656.92, while the narrower Dow dipped 88.76 points or 0.2 percent to 46,292.78.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly higher on the day. The French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.5 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and closed just below the unchanged line.
Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Tuesday as Iraq's earlier-announced plans to export oil to Turkey from Kurdistan stalled due to payment issues. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.26 or 2.02 percent at $63.54 per barrel.
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