SYDNEY, NSW, Australia – It was like Groundhog Day on Asian markets on Wednesday, with little movement on the limited number of stock exchanges trading.
Again, markets in Japan, and China were out of action due to public holidays.
The biggest mover on the day was the Australian All Ordinaries which gave up early gains to close down 22.84 points or 0.30 percent at 7,564.80.
“Given we still see market pricing of a 3.5 percent cash rate by end 2023 as way too high, we believe that Australian equities can keep delivering solid earnings growth this year on the back of, 1) a record low unemployment rate, 2) elevated household and business deposits, 3) a re-opened domestic economy, and 4) tight global commodity markets,” UBS equity strategist, Richard Schellbach told The Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday.
“This illustrates how the trajectory of mining and energy stocks can remain detached from domestic rate cycles in a ‘late-cycle’ economic environment of high inflation and decelerating growth,” he said.
In New Zealand, the S&P NZX 50 declined just 0.71 of a point or 0.01 percent to 11,675.21.
South Korea’s Kospi Composite edged down 2.89 points or 0.11 percent to 2,677.57.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was off 253 points at the time of writing.
The foreign exchange market was also quiet. The euro traded at 1.0510. The British pound was unchanged at 1.2492. The Japanese yen barely moved around 130.09. The Swiss franc was a tad easier at 0.9795.
The Canadian dollar inched down to 1.2840. The Australian dollar was a fraction higher at 0.7102. The New Zealand dollar edged down to 0.6427.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Standard and Poor’s 500 did best, percentage-wise, rising 27.74 points or 0.48 percent to 4,175.48.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 27.74 points or 0.22 percent to 12,563.76.
The Dow Jones industrials increased 67.29 points or 0.20 percent to 33,328.79.
