Asian markets traded mixed on Wednesday as investors digested U.S. Wall Street’s better-than-expected earnings results.
As of 9:50 a.m. Bangkok time, the Japanese Nikkei 225 gained 0.96%. The Reuters Tankan survey, which gauges confidence among large Japanese companies, showed it had dropped for the first time in six months in July, signaling a decrease in business sentiment among Japanese manufacturers.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was up 0.41% as investors awaited the release of the country’s unemployment data on Thursday, which will likely have a major part in determining whether the central bank will continue to raise interest rates.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.23%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.39%, while the Shanghai Composite in mainland China lost 0.14%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.06% overnight, making it the winner among the three major U.S. indices and giving it its longest winning run since March 2021. The S&P 500 index rose 0.71%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.76 %.
The first few reports of the earnings season were mostly positive. According to FactSet, 84% of the reporting S&P 500 businesses have surpassed earnings expectations.
