HONG KONG- Asia stocks traded mixed on Wednesday and benchmark US Treasury yields were near multi-year highs, as investors sour on both stocks and bonds amid worries about the impact of higher-for-longer interest rates.
The dollar index further rose after hitting a 10-month high on Tuesday, while the Japanese yen came closer to a key level where Japanese officials are seen as potentially intervening to shore up the currency.
Profits at China’s industrial firms fell 11.7 percent in the first eight months from a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday. In Australia, inflation picked up in August, driven by a surge in fuel prices, but the gain was in line with expectations.
A Bank of Thailand rate decision is due later in the day.
Early in the Asian trading day, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent . The index is down 3.7 percent so far this month. US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.13 percent .
Australian shares were down 0.25 percent , while Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 0.47 percent .
China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was 0.41 percent higher in early trade. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.8 percent .
On Tuesday, Wall Street’s major stock indexes followed Asian and European equities lower as investors continued to digest last week’s indication from the Federal Reserve that it would keep rates higher for longer than investors had previously expected.
The Dow posted its biggest one-day percentage drop since March, while all three major averages ended at their lowest closing levels in well over three months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.14 percent , the S&P 500 lost 1.47 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.57 percent. -Reuters
