Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Wednesday following the weak cues overnight from Wall Street after hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials, partially offset by higher crude oil prices.
The Australian market is declining following the negative lead from Wall Street overnight and as investors digested mixed local corporate earnings results.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is declining 18.00 points or 0.33 percent to 5,514.00, off a low of 5,508.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is losing 17.90 points or 0.32 percent to 5,607.80.
Biotechnology company CSL reported a 10 percent decline in full-year profit, but expects a higher profit next year and also hinted at a possible share buyback of about A$500 million. Its shares are falling more than 6 percent.
QBE Insurance reported a 46 percent fall in first-half profit, but raised its interim dividend. The insurer's shares are lower by almost 9 percent.
In the mining space, BHP Billiton is gaining almost 3 percent despite reporting a hefty full-year attributable loss of $6.4 billion on Tuesday, while Rio Tinto is advancing almost 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is higher by more than 1 percent.
In the oil sector, Oil Search is rising almost 2 percent and Woodside Petroleum is up 0.6 percent, while Santos is declining 0.4 percent after crude oil prices rose overnight.
The big four banks are mostly higher. Westpac is advancing 0.8 percent, ANZ Bank is adding 0.4 percent and National Australia Bank is rising 0.6 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is down 0.3 percent after its shares went ex-dividend.
Billionaire James Packer's Crown Resorts said its full-year profit more than doubled, aided by a gain from the sale of shares in joint venture Melco Crown
. Shares of the casino operator are rising almost 4 percent.
Sonic Healthcare's full-year net profit rose 30 percent on strong growth in its European and U.S. businesses. Shares of the lab pathology and radiology services company are higher by almost 4 percent.
Dexus Property Group's shares are adding almost 1 percent after the company reported a profit for the full year that almost doubled from last year.
In economic news, wage growth in Australia advanced a seasonally adjusted 2.1 percent on year in the second quarter of 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. That was unchanged from the previous three months, and it exceeded forecasts for 2.0 percent.
The latest survey from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute showed that the outlook for the Australian economy turned cautiously optimistic in July, as their leading index added 0.05 percent last month. That follows the 0.22 percent monthly decline in June.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday after the greenback strengthened following earlier losses. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7695, down from US$0.7711 on Tuesday.
The Japanese market is advancing despite the weak lead overnight from Wall Street, with a slightly weaker yen lifting exporters' shares.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 106.61 points or 0.64 percent to 16,703.12, off a high of 16,722.98 earlier.
The major exporters are mostly higher. Toshiba is adding 0.5 percent, Panasonic is advancing 1.7 percent and Canon is rising 0.2 percent, while Sony is down almost 1 percent.
Shares of Sharp are gaining more than 13 percent after Taiwan'sHon Hai
completed its acquisition of the company this week.
Automaker Toyota is adding almost 2 percent and Honda is rising more than 2 percent.
Market heavyweight Fast Retailing is up almost 1 percent and SoftBank is adding almost 2 percent. In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is higher by more than 2 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex is gaining more than 4 percent and JX Holdings is rising more than 1 percent following the increase in crude oil prices.
Among the other major gainers, Sumitomo Heavy Industries is gaining more than 7 percent, while T&D Holdings and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal are rising almost 5 percent each.
On the flip side, Hokuetsu Kishu Paper is losing almost 4 percent and Haseko Cor. is down more than 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid 100 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower, while New Zealand and Hong Kong are higher. The markets in Indonesia are closed on Wednesday for Independence Day.
On Wall Street, stocks moved lower on Tuesday after Federal Reserve officials made hawkish comments despite anemic inflation data. But tempering the negative sentiment, crude oil prices rose on speculation that Russia and Saudi Arabia are nearing a deal to curb output.
The Dow shed 84.03 points or 0.45 percent to 18,552.02, while the S&P 500 fell 12.00 points or 0.55 percent to 2,178.15, and the Nasdaq slid 34.90 points or 0.66 percent to 5,227.11.
The European markets also finished in the red Tuesday, largely due to profit taking following the recent run up in equities. The DAX of Germany dropped 0.58 percent, the CAC 40 of France fell 0.83 percent and the FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.68 percent.
Meanwhile, crude oil futures rose on Tuesday. WTI crude for September delivery climbed $0.48 or 1.8 percent to close at $46.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
By: RTT News.
Photo: Yahoo.
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, FLAGSHIP RECORDS.
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