Stocks

Asian Trading Mixed As Chinese Stocks Record Losses

On Wednesday, shares in Asia-Pacific remained mixed, after the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted losses in the US for the third consecutive day.

Asia-Pacific markets mixed

There was a decline in mainland Chinese markets, with regional losses led by the Shenzhen Component. It recorded a drop of 2.88% in the session to reach a value of 12,096.39.

There was also a 1.86% drop in the Shanghai Composite, which closed at 3,215.20. A 1.07% fall was also seen in the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong in the final hour of trading.

A 2.72% loss was also seen in the Hang Seng Tech index. Xpeng, the electric vehicle maker, shed almost 12% after it reported a quarterly loss that was wider than expected.

A 0.49% loss in Japan’s Nikkei 225 index saw it down to 28,313.47 and a 0.22% drop in the Topix index brought it to a close at 1,967.18.

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 index rose by 0.52% to reach 6,998.1, while a 0.5% gain was also seen in the South Korean Kospi index to reach 2,447.45.

A 1.24% gain in the Kosdaq saw it reach 793.14.

US markets

Overnight on Wall Street, there was a 0.47% dip in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which saw it come down by 154.02 points to reach 32,909.59 points.

A 0.22% in the S&P 500 saw it come down to 4,128.73 and there was only a slight decline in the Nasdaq Composite to reach 12,381.30.

Neel Kashkari, the President of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, indicated that supply chain bottlenecks were responsible for two-thirds of the inflation numbers recorded in the US.

He stated that more easing in the supply chain would mean that the US Fed would have to do less and they would be able to steer clear of a hard landing.

He also added that there was evidence that supply chains were finally beginning to get back to normal.

Japanese markets

The report from Nikkei that the Japanese government was planning on restarting more nuclear reactors saw the share prices of electricity production companies in the country rise.

Fumio Kishida, the Prime Minister of Japan, confirmed that they were indeed planning on doing so and also said that his administration had talked about developing next-generation nuclear reactors.

There was an almost 10% gain in Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) in mid-afternoon trading, while others also recorded gains between 2% and 3%.

These included names like Hokkaido Electric Power (HEPCO) Tohoku Electric Power and Kansai Electric Power. There are ten full-service electric companies operating in Japan.

Early Asian trading saw the Australian dollar weaken after it had recorded sharp gains overnight because of a softer US dollar.

The Aussie had risen above a value of $0.6950 and was trading at a value of $0.6910 at the end of the day.

The Japanese yen had strengthened overnight against the dollar at 135.93 and was trading at 136.87 at the close. There was also a decline in the US dollar index to reach 108.695.

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