CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian markets are mostly higher on Wednesday, despite the negative cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by a rebound in technology and semiconductor stocks in Japan and South Korea after the recent sharp sell-off. Support also came from comments by New York Fed President John Williams that while one more rate hike might happen this year, aggressive further tightening may not be needed in 2027. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.
Traders also now await the U.S. consumer price inflation report as well as speeches from US Fed officials for further clues on the path of interest rates.
Meanwhile, the Middle East is seeing an escalation of hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Saudi Aramco's Dhahran headquarters was hit during a Houthi missile attack on Tuesday, stoking fresh uncertainty over a recovery in energy shipments from the Persian Gulf.
Australian shares are trading significantly lower on Wednesday, snapping a three-session winning streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,750 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in energy stocks. Meanwhile, iron ore miners and gold miners are mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 73.10 points or 0.83 percent to 8,710.80, after hitting a low of 8,698.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 67.60 points or 0.76 percent to 8,853.90. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 3 percent and Fortescue is edging up 0.3 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are gaining almost 2 percent each. Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is flat. Zip is gaining more than 1 percent, while Xero is losing more than 1 percent, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.4 percent and Appen is declining almost 3 percent.
Among the big four banks, National Australia bank and Commonwealth Bank are losing more than 2 percent each, while Westpac is declining almost 2 percent and ANZ Banking is down more than 1 percent.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, Genesis Minerals is declining almost 3 percent and Newmont is down more than 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent.
In other news, shares in Paladin Energy are tumbling more than 7 percent after reporting downbeat quarterly financials.
In economic news, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index fell 0.1 percent on month in September 2026, after remaining flat for the previous two months, marking its first decline since May. Meanwhile, its six-month annualized growth rate held at -0.03 percent, unchanged from August.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.699 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Wednesday, snapping a four-session losing streak, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to near the 68,200 level, with gains in exporters, automakers and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 68,193.13, up 415.61 points or 0.61 percent, after touching a high of 68,276.73 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.4 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are declining almost 2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is losing more than 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, Canon is edging up 0.2 percent and Sony is adding more than 1 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.4 percent.
Among other major gainers, Taiyo Yuden is jumping more than 7 percent, while Mitsui Kinzoku and Fujikura are advancing almost 4 percent each. Resonac Holdings and Lasertec are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Socionext and Ibiden are adding almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Olympus is plunging almost 14 percent, Aeon is tumbling almost 8 percent, J. Front Retailing is slipping more than 4 percent and Terumo is declining more than 3 percent, while Resona Holdings, Mercari and Otsuka Holdings are losing almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, the M2 money stock in Japan was up 2.0 percent on year in September, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday - coming in at 1,295.6 trillion yen. That was unchanged from the August reading, although it missed expectations for an increase of 2.1 percent.
The M3 money stock was up an annual 1.2 percent at 1,638.3 trillion yen, while M1 slipped 0.2 percent to 1,081.9 trillion yen. L money was up 4.3 percent to 2,344.3 trillion yen, easing from 4.4 percent a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 158 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.7 and 1.4 percent each, while Hong Kong is up 0.1 percent. Singapore is bucking the trend and is down 0.1 percent. New Zealand and China are relatively flat.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, extending the lackluster performance seen in the previous session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly lower.
The Dow fell 180.45 points or 0.4 percent to 51,670.10, the Nasdaq dipped 41.52 points or 0.2 percent to 27,204.38 and the S&P 500 edged down 1.79 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 7,805.45.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index all edged down by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday thanks to persistent tensions in the Middle East and supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $1.08 or 1.15 percent to $94.82 per barrel.
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