A gauge of Asian equities traded largely down on Wednesday, as Wall Street’s earnings season started and Federal Reserve officials in the United States gave mixed signals about future rate hikes.
As of 9.30 A.M. Bangkok time, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.10% up, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 0.28%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.10%.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite shed 0.36%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 1.09% lower.
On Tuesday, Atlanta Federal Reserve President told CNBC that he expects one more rate hike of 25 basis points before pausing to assess the impact on the economy. This would raise the target range for the Federal Funds rate from 5% to 5.25%.
Bostic’s comments came after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told Reuters he supports a higher terminal rate of between 5.50% and 5.75%.
As investors mulled over earnings results from companies like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, stock prices in the U.S. were relatively flat throughout the night. There was a rise of 0.09% for the S&P 500, a decrease of 0.03% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and a loss of 0.04% for the Nasdaq Composite.
