Asian Market Review

Asian investors became cautious on Wednesday morning, leaving markets little changed as they await the overnight decision of the Federal Reserve regarding interest rates and monetary policy. Where the Fed had been widely expected to cut interest rates just a week ago, the most recent data shows a less than 50% chance of a rate cut, leaving investors uncertain and unwilling to place any large bets.

In Australia the S&P/ASX 200 is trading flat, down by less than 0.1% late in the morning. Shares of oil companies have fallen in response to the overnight drop in crude, with Woodside Petroleum 2.7% lower, while Oil Search has dropped 1.7%. Miners are also lower, with BHP down 0.9% and Rio Tinto slipping 0.4%. And the big four banks have losses ranging from 0.1% to 0.5%.

In Japan the Nikkei is also slightly lower, trading down less than 0.1%. That could turn into a gain later however as the Yen is once again showing weakness against the U.S. dollar, which could give a boost to Japanese exporters.

Nikkei 5 day chart

In mainland China the Shanghai Composite trades 0.2% higher at the open, as does the Shenzhen Composite. Over in Hong Kong the Hang Seng is 0.2% higher as well.

South Korea’s Kospi is also trading down by less than 0.1%, and in Taiwan the Taiex is bucking the falling trend and trading up by 0.2%.

Cospi 5 day chart

Southeast Asian markets are lower as well, with Singapore’s Straits Times flat with a slight loss, and the KLCI in Malaysia leading losses for the region as it’s opened 0.5% lower.