EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in a volatile Wednesday trade. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.22% by the afternoon, while the Shanghai Composite in mainland China edged about 0.70% higher. South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.86%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia advanced 0.67%.
Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan was flat, while over in Singapore, the Straits Times index edged 0.33% lower.
European markets looked set for a firmer open, with pan-European futures up 0.93% and FTSE 100 futures rising 0.88%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.35% to 11,264.45, and the S&P 500 dipped 0.81% to 3,941.48. Meanwhile the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.15%, to 31,928.62.
OIL
Oil prices climbed on the prospect of tight supplies and rising demand from the upcoming start of the summer driving season in the U.S., the world's biggest crude consumer.
Global crude supplies continue to tighten as buyers avoid oil from Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, amid sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.
Brent crude futures rose 0.90%, to $114.85 a barrel, and the U.S. crude futures rose to $110.97 a barrel.
U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 4.2 million barrels last week, citing API figure. Distillate stocks also dropped by 949,000 barrels, while U.S. crude stocks rose by 567,000 barrels. Data from the U.S. government on stockpiles will be released on Wednesday.
CURRENCIES
Treasuries steadied after a flight to havens sent yields lower, and traders dialled back the expected pace of Federal Reserve hikes.
The 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 2.772%, after dipping to a nearly one-month low of 2.718% overnight.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 101.959 having recently declined from above 102.2.
The kiwi hit a three-week high of $0.65 after the New Zealand central bank announcing yet another rate hike, the country’s fifth in a row. The RBNZ announced Wednesday its decision to hike its official cash rate by an aggressive 50 basis points and signalled more to come.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin continued its two-week-long consolidation around $30,000, last trading 1.80% higher at 29,847.
GOLD
Gold prices dipped on Wednesday, receding from a two-week high hit in the previous session and set to snap a five-session winning streak as the dollar reclaimed some ground. Though uncertainty over the trajectory of inflation supported safe-haven bullion's outlook.
Spot gold had eased 0.36% to $1,859.60 per ounce after rising to its highest since May 9 of $1,869.49 on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures dipped 0.40% to $1,858.20.
Spot silver dipped 0.2% to $22.04 per ounce and platinum eased 0.1% to $952.97. Palladium rose 0.4% to $2,014.07.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asia stocks were fluctuated with mixed trading across the region, as some investors scooped up beaten-down equities.
Investors are shifting focus to slowing growth amid tighter monetary conditions to taper surging inflation, global supply chain disruptions exacerbated by Russia's war with Ukraine, as well as restrictive measures in China to control its latest COVID-19 outbreak, sending soaring inflation to multi-decade highs.
Worries of aggressive moves to curb decades-high inflation might tip the economy into recession soured risk appetite.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has vowed to aggressively tackle persistent price growth by hiking the cost of borrowing, and minutes from its most recent monetary policy meeting, expected later today, will be parsed by market participants for clues regarding the speed and extent of those actions. Investors currently expect a series of 50-bps rate hikes over the next several months, fuelling fears that the central bank could push the economy into recession, a scenario that is increasingly being baked into analyst projections.
Chinese stocks were little changed as investors assessed a sharp selloff in technology shares. The country’s strict COVID-19 policy is outweighing broad measures to support growth and keeping investors wary. The nation’s central bank and banking regulator urged lenders to boost loans in the latest effort to shore up the battered economy.
Shares of dual-listed Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong fell. By Wednesday afternoon in the city, shares of Alibaba declined around 1.60% while JD.com and Baidu slipped 1.40% and 2.13%, respectively. Those losses came after comments from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official on Tuesday that “time is running out” in negotiations between U.S. and Chinese authorities regarding audit inspections. Baidu and JD.com are among Chinese firms placed by the SEC on a list of companies that face potential delisting stateside.
