Market Trend on Wednesday: Outlook Falls Moderately

HONGKONG, H.K. – Asian indices open were mostly mixed after a mostly flat trading session in the US.

In the global stock market on Wednesday, around 00:20 ET, indices were mostly mixed. The ASX 200 index in Australia recorded a modest 0.1% for the day, while the Kospi index in South Korea opened mostly flat in the session, decline by around 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite opened the session flat with a 0.1% gains amid the mostly positive trading for the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong, which marked a 0.4% advance early in the session.

On the other hand, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan opened with decreasing sentiments, recording a 0.6% decline during the opening session.

In the equity futures, the S&P 500 index was seen with a flattish trade, similar to the Nasdaq 100 index, while the Dax index marked a modest 0.1% decline. The FTSE 100 index was also seen modestly trading with a 0.1% gain.

The general trend in the market on Wednesday was mostly mixed as well, with the Fedex recording declines of as much as 6%, cutting its outlook during the US after-hours trading, while the financial and banking sector leading gains in Shanghai early in the session amid liquidity injection by PBOC.

The gaming firms share in Hong Kong traded marginally lower amid the scheduled visit of Xi Jinping in Macau on December 18 to 20, while the financial sectors weighed in on the stock market in Australia for the day.

In Japan, the equity market recorded a marginal drop, with the transportation and marine sectors and the real estate shares leading the decline. On the other hand, shares of the brokerage sector gained for the day, mainly boosted by Nomura’s gains leading it to a 52-week high. Shares of Isuzu also tracked gains over a rumor that it’s going to partner with Volvo.

Further, market players patiently wait on the Bank of Japan’s issue of its latest monetary policy decision, which is expected to be published on Thursday.

In Australia, the major cause for the day’s decline was the market’s anxious sentiment over the coming labor market data for November, which is scheduled for release on Thursday.

New Zealand’s kiwi also dropped in today’s session as investors await on the GDP data for the third quarter, which is scheduled to release on Thursday.

In the commodities front, the gold was trading flat on Wednesday at $1,481 per ounce, while crude oil marginally declined by 0.7% to settle at $60.45 per barrel, and copper dropping slightly early on trade by around 0.3% towards $2.802 per pound.