Stocks in Asia were traded in mixed session on Wednesday, following declines in US Wall Street, as fears of a banking crisis resurfaced.
As of 9.33 A.M. Bangkok time, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan fell 0.44%.
The Kospi in South Korea inched up as the country’s consumer mood index for April rose to 95.1 from 92 in March.
Investors were following Australia’s inflation data for the first quarter of 2023, which showed a slowing to 7% year-on-year from a 23-year high of 7.8% in the previous quarter. This led to a little increase in the S&P/ASX 200.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.22%, meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite in mainland China lost 0.14%.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.02%, while the S&P 500 concluded down 1.58%. The Nasdaq Composite saw the largest loss with a 1.98% decline.
After the regional bank reported its latest quarterly results late Monday, shares of First Republic Bank fell by more than 49%. The bank said that deposits fell 40% to $104.5 billion in the first quarter but have since steadied.
Disappointing profits from First Republic Bank revived concerns about the stability of the US banking sector.
