Asian Stocks Reverse Gains Ahead of Fed's Interest Rate Decision
(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks outside Japan declined as Australian shares dropped before the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision. Equity markets in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong are closed Wednesday for holidays.
The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index fell 0.2 percent as of 3:55 p.m. in Hong Kong, erasing earlier gains. Optimism was wiped out as Australia's Vocus Group Ltd. closed 27 percent lower after cutting its profit target, making it the biggest decliner on the benchmark Asian gauge. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slid the most since March.
The Federal Reserve is expected to leave policy untouched as it concludes a two-day meeting in Washington on Wednesday. A slew of economic data before the announcement will also weigh on investor sentiment.
“The market has expected the Fed to hold rates unchanged but investors are watching out for signals on how monetary policy will evolve in the near future,” Dong-yul Lim, a senior trader at CMC Markets in Singapore wrote in a note.
Disappointing earnings from Apple Inc. didn't dampen stocks in Taiwan, where some of the the company's suppliers are based.
Singapore's DBS Group Holdings Ltd. was the best performer on the index after reporting better-than-expected profit. That helped put the Straits Times Index at the highest level since July 2015.
Summary
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 -0.5%
- Taiwan's Taiex +0.2%, Shanghai Composite Index -0.3%
- Sensex and Nifty 50 indexes little changed
- Indian Stock Valuations May Stay Elevated on Equity Demand: Morgan Stanley
- Malaysia's KLCI Index -0.2%; Thailand's SET Index +0.1%; Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index -0.2%; Philippine Composite Index -0.0.2%; Singapore's Straits Times Index +0.8%
- DBS Upgraded at Two Firms on 1Q Earnings Surprise: Street Wrap
- Noble Group on the Ropes Before Share Consolidation Kicks In
- Thanachart, My EG Are Among Potential MSCI Additions: Maybank
To contact the reporter on this story: Choong En Han in Kuala Lumpur at echoong6@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Vivek Shankar, Tim Smith
-
Medicine Pricing: Where Must Profit Stop?
India must confront excessive margins, hidden incentives and regulatory gaps that threaten the integrity of medicine.
-
Why Amazon And Flipkart Are Struggling To Beat Meesho In India's Smaller Cities
With 274 million users and lowest-cost logistics, Meesho is defending its value commerce crown against giants like Amazon and Flipkart.
-
High US Salaries, No Green Card Certainty: The Financial Calculation Facing Indian H-1B Families
The suspension of PERM processing at eight technology employers does not cancel existing H-1B visas. What it does is force a question many Indian families have been avoiding: is the US salary worth tying your career and family plans to one employer?
-
Swiggy vs Eternal: Food Delivery's Two Rivals Are No Longer In The Same Race
Eternal is building a private AI assistant, dark.ai. Swiggy is still working out how to make Instamart pay, with an operating loss of Rs 895 crore in the July-September quarter while Blinkit stayed profitable.
-
Where You Live Shapes How You Get To Work | The Reason Why
Two-wheelers are the most popular way to get to work in India, accounting for nearly 43% of workplace commutes.
-
Unhedged Position: Can India See An Indonesia-Style Time Correction?
The Nifty is trading below levels it first clocked in 2024. Is there, then, as I have suggested in the headline, potential that the current time correction drags on painfully for the next three-five, even ten years?
-
Navigating Friction And Energy Realities: An Analysis Of Marco Rubio's October Visit To India
Occurring at a critical juncture marked by stalled trade negotiations and escalating geopolitical pressures over global energy supplies, the visit offers a profound window into modern US-India relations.
-
India Exports Capital. Why Not Export Trusteeship?
The big question, then, is whether India can build an institution that global borrowers, investors, banks, and lawyers can trust, even without an Indian connection.
-
France's Economy & Politics Are In Crisis | The Reason Why
Let's look at how the French economy and politics evolved under Nicolas Sarkozy, Franois Hollande and Emmanuel Macron.
-
You May Inherit The Business. You Must Earn Its Credibility.
Succession tests the founder's ability to share authority as much as it tests the next generation's readiness to assume it.
