Stocks – Asia
Stocks in the Asian region were seen trading lower on Wednesday, falling to a seven-week low as shares in Japan were dropping due to the stronger yen while investors raise concerns over the Chinese economy slowdown deepening.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index slid 2.93% lower closing the session at 14,033.45 points, while Tokyo’s broader Topix index lost 2.58% ending at 1,152.01points as the nation’s yen traded at 101.51 against the dollar, after rising to a the highest in three weeks on Tuesday. Members of the Bank of Japan concluded to keep easing monetary policy until the inflation rate remains steady at 2%, according to minutes from the April 7-8 policy meeting.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.3% lower at the time of writing, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.88% to 2,010.22 as the key Chinese manufacturing gauge contracted for the fourth month in a row, raising concerns that the world’s second largest economy’s slowdown is deepening.
HSBC’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for April came in at 48.1 from 48.3, coming in lower than analysts forecast of 48.4. Readings below 50 indicates contraction, while China’s services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for April fell to 51.4 points from 51.9 seen in March, according to reports from HSBC.
Exports in Japan saw the most losses due to the stronger yen. Yaskawa Electric lost 5.80%, while the Japanese electronics company, Panasonic slid by 3.4%. Softbank, which is a major stakeholder in Alibaba, fell by 4.39% after the e-commerce company filed for an US initial public offering.
Stocks -Europe
European stocks opened lower on Wednesday, falling for a fourth day as investors continue to weigh on the ongoing escalated tensions in Ukraine.
The European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.57% starting at 3,131.78, while German’s DAX index slid 0.45% opening at 9,425.11 at the time of writing. At the same time the French CAC 40 gave up 0.44% to 4,408.47 as the UK benchmark FTSE 100 edged 0.34% lower to 6,775.31.
In other news, investors will be focusing on the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speech, which she will be delivering before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in Washington.
Ukraine
Ukraine received its first cut of $3.2 billion of the financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday. The first cut is from the $17 billion two year financial aid that was agreed by the IMF in March.
Meanwhile the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama have set May 25 to vote on whether to impose more sanctions against Russia if the country fails to withdraw its support for separatists.
Australia
Sydney’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.83% lower, ending the session at 5,435.80 points as retail sales in Australia rose 0.1% higher in March, but was still below analysts’ estimates of a 0.4% rise, reports from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
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