Asia-Pacific equities traded mixed on Wednesday, with sentiment dampened by weak Japanese trade data and overnight declines on Wall Street.
By 11:35 am AEST (1:35 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped 1.6% and South Korea’s Kospi 200 dropped 2.2%.
Japan’s trade report showed exports sliding 2.6% year-on-year in July, marking the steepest fall since February 2021.
The contraction was deeper than an expected 2.1% drop and followed a 0.5% decline in June.
Imports also fell 7.5%, though the decline was milder than the expected 10.4%.
Shipments to the United States, Japan’s largest trading partner, tumbled 10.1% in July after falling 11.4% in June.
Exports to mainland China, the country’s second-largest market, declined 3.5% from a year earlier, though shipments to Hong Kong jumped 17.7%.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand decreased the Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 3%, in line with market expectations.
Among company news, SoftBank Group shares tumbled around 8.2%, extending losses of 4% in the previous session after announcing a US$2 billion investment in Intel.
In the United States on Tuesday, major benchmarks were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added just 0.02%, touching intraday records, while the S&P 500 shed 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.5%.
Chinese equities were subdued, with the Shanghai Composite closing just below four-year highs at 3,727.3, while the CSI 300 dipped 0.4% to 4,223.4.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.2% to 25,122.9. Elsewhere in the region, India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.5% to 81,644.4.
Commodities also came under pressure, with Brent crude sliding 1.2% to US$65.79 per barrel. Spot gold fell 0.5% to a multi-week low of US$3,315.70 per ounce.
European equities were higher across the board. London’s FTSE 100 touched fresh record highs, rising 0.3% to 9,189.2, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.5% to 24,423.1, and France’s CAC 40 jumped 1.2% to 7,979.1.
