Vehicles to be shipped are parked in front of the Dream Angel vehicle carrier at Nagoya Port in Nagoya, Japan, Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
Fred Mary Bloomberg Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday, following gains on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit new highs.
Investors await the Federal Reserve’s rate decision due stateside on Wednesday, and evaluate economic data from Japan. Indonesia’s central bank’s interest rate decision will also be made later.
Japan’s imports and exports in August rose 2.3% and 5.6%, respectively, from a year ago, according to Japan’s Finance Ministry, both missing Reuters poll estimates of 13.4% and 10% growth.
Japan’s private sector machinery orders in July fell 0.1% from the previous month, according to data from the Cabinet Office, missing Reuters estimates of a 0.5% increase.
Bank Indonesia’s Board of Governors is set to wrap up its two-day meeting and make a key interest rate decision on Wednesday. The policy rate is at its highest level since 2016, although inflation has fallen below the central bank’s 1.5%-3.5% target.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.14%, snapping a four-day winning streak that sent the index to a record high on Tuesday.
Japan Nikkei 225 rose 0.22%, while the broad-based Topix fell 0.06%.
The CSI 300 in Mainland China fell 0.39%, after closing at its lowest level since January 2019 on Friday.
The Taiwan Weighted Index fell almost 1%.
Markets in South Korea and Hong Kong are closed today while markets in mainland China will resume trading after a three-day nationwide holiday.
Overnight in the US, the S&P 500 hit an intraday record before closing below a session high but still slightly higher on the day at 5,634.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.04% to close at 41,606.18 after touching a new high during the session.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.2% to 17,628.06.
Wall Street estimated the latest retail sales rose 0.1% in August from the previous month, compared with a Reuters poll forecast for a 0.2% decline.
—CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
