SHANGHAI, CHINA – JUNE 08: Aerial view of skyscrapers at Lujiazui Financial District at sunrise on June 8, 2022 in Shanghai, China.
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Asia-Pacific markets rose on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street’s gains on hopes that the US Federal Reserve may cut benchmark interest rates in December.
Expectations rose after Bloomberg reported that Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council Considered as a pioneer to become the next Fed Chair. Investors see Hassett as likely to push the central bank toward the low-rate environment favored by President Donald Trump.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told CNBC On Tuesday there was a “very good chance” Trump could name a new Fed chair before Christmas.
Markets are pricing in a more than 84% chance the Fed will cut rates in December, according to the CME FedWatch tool. New York Fed President John Williams also said Friday that there is room to cut rates “In the near term.“
Japan’s benchmark Nikki 225 Utilities, real estate and financials rose 1.85% to close at 49,559.07. Top movers on the index included printing company Toppan Holdings, which advanced 6.27%, and a tech-focused investment firm. Softbank Groupwhich increased by 5.65%.
Japanese tech stocks advanced for a second straight session, along with the semiconductor testing equipment supplier Advantest 2% increase and Tokyo Electron rose 0.23%. Lasertec and chipmaker Renesas Electronics rose 0.51% and 3.15% respectively.
The Topix index rose nearly 2% to 3,355.5.
However, Kioxia shares fell by 14.89 percent Nikki reported late Monday night That US private equity firm Bain Capital was planning to offload shares in the Japanese memory chip maker worth about 350 billion yen ($2.24 billion). The block trade will reduce Bain’s joint ownership in Kioxia from 51% to 44%, the report said.
The Japanese supplier to Apple reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and guidance that missed expectations after the bell on Nov. 13. The company’s shares fell by 23.03% the next day.
of South Korea Kospi It rose 2.67% to close at 3,960.87 and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 2.49% to close at 877.32. Shares of Lotte Corp – one of the country’s largest chaebols, or family-run conglomerates – closed some losses as low as 6.09% after it announced on Wednesday plans to spin off and merge its business, Lotte Chemical, with HD Hyundai Chemical.
Lotte Corp was one of the top losers on the Kospi index.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 closed up 0.81% at 8,606.5. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday that the country’s inflation accelerated in October, beating analysts’ estimates and rising to its fastest pace in seven months.
The consumer price index rose 3.8% year-on-year in October, the fastest pace since the adoption of the new headline inflation measure in April. According to the official release.
of Hong Kong Hang Seng Index It was last up 0.38% and mainland China’s CSI 300 closed up 0.61% at 4,517.63. of Hong Kong-listed shares Alibaba Group It fell 1.27% after its financial second-quarter report on Tuesday showed Adjusted EBITA, a profitability measure closely watched by analysts, fell 78% last year, dragged down by its instant commerce business segment. Revenue is at the top of estimates.
Taiwan’s TaiX index rose 1.85% to 27,409.54, with shares of Hon Hai Precision Industries – also known as Foxconn – up 3.65%. Nvidia supplier said The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation approved a contract amendment providing Foxconn with up to $16 million in additional performance-based tax incentives to help expand its operations in Racine County and invest an additional $569 million.
of India Nifty 50 Also the BSE Sensex index rose more than 1%, after falling for three consecutive sessions.
Shares of Bharti Airtel fell 2.2% reports That its promoter, Indian Continent Investments, an entity led by billionaire Sunil Mittal, plans to sell its 34.3 million shares in a wholesale deal worth at least $806 million.
Overnight, major US benchmarks closed higher after a volatile session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 664.18 points, or 1.43%, to close at 47,112.45. This S&P 500 rose 0.91% to settle at 6,765.88, while Nasdaq Composite ended up 0.67% at 23,025.59. It shows a return from the losses seen earlier in the day.
At session lows, the S&P 500 was down about 0.7%, while the Dow and tech-heavy Nasdaq were down more than 100 points, or 0.2% and more than 1%, respectively.
— CNBC’s Anneke Bao, Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
