Treasury yields and the dollar hit multi-month lows after a Fed official made fresh hints of US interest rate cuts. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan briefly hit a one-week high, before weakness in Hong Kong tech shares dragged it to a 0.3% loss.

Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta edged up. The Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange retreated 0.78%, or 14.95 points, to 1,889.85.Įlsewhere across the region, in earlier trade, there were also losses in Seoul, Bangkok and Manila. The blue-chip CSI 300 Index dropped 0.86%, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.56%, or 16.87 points, to 3,021.69. In mainland markets, real estate and insurance companies fell 2.6% and 2%, respectively, leading the decline, with general pessimism over China’s economic recovery weighing. Hong Kong-listed mainland developers dropped 4.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 2.08%, or 360.70 points, to 16,993.44, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 2.32%. The Hang Seng Index heavyweight slumped 11% after the firm said it expected fourth-quarter revenue growth for its core food delivery business to slow versus the preceding quarter, citing persistent consumer caution and warmer weather for the winter season hitting orders as reasons. The banking index lost 2.54%, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group sliding 2.83% and 2.63%, respectively.Ĭhina and Hong Kong stocks fell, as food delivery giant Meituan’s cautious fourth-quarter guidance raised market concerns about the prospects for China’s consumer spending recovery.

The broader Topix fell 0.51% to 2,364.50, dragged by banking shares. The Nikkei index fell 0.26% to close at 33,321.22 after opening 0.49% lower and trading in positive territory earlier in the session. Japan’s Nikkei share average ended lower in a listless day of trading as investors continued to sell stocks to book profits after last week’s rally.Īlso on AF: COP28: Cities Give A Glimpse of Changes Sweeping the World Poor earnings reports and tech worries, along with persistent concerns over China’s post-Covid recovery, trumped any reasons to be cheerful over interest rates turning around. Asian stocks continued their slide on Wednesday despite optimism the US Federal Reserve will at last call a halt to its long inflation campaign soon.

Hang seng index