Asian Stocks Slip But Aussie Index Hits Record

Asian stocks were mostly lower Wednesday, even as investors wagered that the Federal Reserve will come ahead with a cut to interest rates, while Australia’s benchmark hit a new record.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1% to 8,076.80, hitting an all-time high. I Photo: Jason 7825 Wikimedia Commons

US futures were mixed, and oil prices were little changed, Stan Choe reported for the Associated Press (AP).

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gave up early gains to shed 0.4% to 41,095.23. Reports said the Finance Ministry might have intervened in the currency market last week, buying nearly 6 trillion yen ($37 billion) to support the yen.

The US dollar rose to 158.42 Japanese yen from 158.34 yen on Wednesday.

The yen weakened to 161.85 to the dollar last Wednesday and picked up to 157.89 last Friday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1% to 8,076.80, hitting an all-time high. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.2% to 2,859.64.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 17,777.56, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.2% to 2,971.38.

Elsewhere, Taiwan’s Taiex declined 0.1%, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s stock falling 2.4%. The SET in Bangkok was up 0.2%. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 5,667.20, setting an all-time high for the 38th time this year.

Unlike other record-setting days, Tuesday’s came after a widespread rally where nearly nine out of every 10 stocks in the S&P 500 rose, instead of just the handful of influential Big Tech stocks that have been behind most of this year’s returns.