CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders are looking past short-term geopolitical uncertainty to focus on upcoming central bank meetings, with the U.S. Fed scheduled to announce its interest-rate decision later in the day. The escalating war in the Middle East and the resultant spike in crude oil prices continue to weigh on market sentiment. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.
While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will pay close attention to central bank officials' latest projections. Other major banks of the world, including European Central Bank, Bank of England, and Bank of Japan are also set to announce monetary policy decisions later in the week.
Amid the ongoing Middle East war, economists are awaiting the reasons behind the policy decisions of these major banks to get clues on the near-term interest rate trajectory.
Iran stepped up its attack on energy infrastructure in the Middle East in its war against the U.S. and Israel. The Israeli military also said it had begun a 'wide-scale wave of strikes' across Iran's capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday after opening in the green and slipping briefly in to the red, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying well above the 8,600 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in energy and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in gold mining and financial stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 18.20 points or 0.21 percent to 8,632.50, after touching a high of 8,641.70 and a low of 8,602.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.00 points or 0.24 percent to 8,840.40. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue is slipping almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is flat.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining almost 1 percent, Origin Energy is advancing more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent and Beach energy is adding almost 3 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.5 percent, Zip is gaining more than 2 percent and Xero is up almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.5 percent and Appen is losing almost 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is losing more than 2 percent, while National Australia bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.1 percent each.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is down more than 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining more than 2 percent. Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.
In other news, shares in Sims Ltd. are surging more than 9 percent as it expected 2026 fiscal year underlying EBIT of between $350 million and $400 million as strong non-ferrous metal prices and buoyant memory chip markets support earnings.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.711 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 54,550 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 54,898.44, up 1,198.05 points or 2.23 percent, after touching a high of 54,921.81 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is advancing more than 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.1 percent, while Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is advancing more than 4 percent, Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 2 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is advancing more than 2 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 2 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing more than 2 percent, Canon is edging up 0.3 percent and Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent, while Sony is losing more than 2 percent.
Among other major gainers, Tokyo Electric Power is soaring more than 12 percent, Mitsubishi Materials is soaring more than 11 percent, Alps Alpine is surging more than 7 percent and Casio Computer is advancing more than 6 percent, while Yokohama Rubber and Mitsubishi are gaining almost 5 percent each. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, ENEOS Holdings, JGC Holdings and NSK are adding more than 4 percent each, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Idemitsu Kosan and Sumitomo are up almost 4 percent each.
Conversely, Chugai Pharmaceutical is declining almost 5 percent.
In economic news, Japan posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of 57.296 billion yen in February, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That exceeded expectations for a deficit of 485.0 billion yen following the downwardly revised 1.163 trillion yen shortfall in January (originally a deficit of 1.152 trillion yen).
Exports rose 4.2 percent on year to 9.571 trillion yen - beating forecasts for an increase of 1.6 percent and slowing from 16.8 percent in the previous month. Imports rose an annual 10.2 percent versus expectations for 11.5 percent following the 2.6 percent contraction a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is surging 3.6 percent, while New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.6 and 1.4 percent each. China and Hong Kong are down 0.2 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Indonesia is closed for the Saka New Year.
On the Wall Street, stocks showed another strong move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday following the recovery rally seen in the previous session, but gave back ground over the course of the day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session but managed to close in positive territory.
The major averages added to the strong gains posted on Monday, climbing further off Friday's three-month closing lows. The Nasdaq climbed 105.35 points or 0.5 percent to 22,479.53, the S&P 500 rose 16.71 points or 0.3 percent to 6,716.09 and the Dow inched up 46.85 points or 0.1 percent to 46,993.26.
The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices surged Tuesday as Iran stepped up its attack on energy infrastructure in the Middle East in its war against the U.S. and Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $2.57 or 2.75 percent at $96.07 per barrel.
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