Melbourne’s skyline at dusk
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Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday, tracking declines in two key Wall Street benchmarks overnight after the U.S. consumer confidence survey came in much weaker than economists’ estimates.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 and Topix were in negative territory for the second consecutive day. The Nikkei 225 started the day 0.56% lower, while the broader Topix index fell 0.44%.
In South Korea, the Kospi began the day 0.12% higher, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.25%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.47%, extending its losses to a second straight day.
The country is set to release its inflation data for January later in the day. A Reuters poll expects its weighted consumer price index to rise 2.5% year on year, same as the month before.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 23,148, pointing to a higher open compared to HSI’s close of 23,034.02.
Hong Kong’s annual budget will be tabled later in the day.
Overnight in the U.S., stocks slid on investor concerns over economic growth and global trade.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell for a fourth consecutive session, slipping 0.47%, to close at 5,955.25.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.35% to end the day at 19,026.39. The tech-heavy index’s decline was led by a 2.8% in drop in chipmaker Nvidia’s shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, climbed 159.95 points, or 0.37%, to close at 43,621.16.
Investors sought safety in the U.S. bond market, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dropping below 4.3% to hit their lowest level since December.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
