Nikkei 225 slid 0.2% to 39,508.84, Hang Seng declined 0.6% to 17,370.09, and South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.3% to 2,772.55
Asian stocks mostly dropped on Wednesday as markets digested Japanese and Australian business data, after U.S. stocks held relatively steady as earnings reporting season ramped up for big companies.
U.S. futures dropped while oil prices rose.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slid 0.2% in morning trading to 39,508.84, with the Japanese yen trading at its highest level in months ahead of a BoJ policy decision next week.
The U.S. dollar was trading over 162 yen earlier this month but the Japanese currency has firmed in recent days after officials intervened to halt the yen’s drop. Expectations that the BoJ may hike its near-zero interest rate, and that the Fed may in turn reduce rates, have helped support the yen, which has languished as the gap between U.S. rates and those in Japan widened.
Early Wednesday, the dollar was trading at 154.78 yen, down from 155.59 yen late Tuesday.
A business survey released on Wednesday showed Japan’s factory activity dropped in July, as weak demand weighed on the manufacturing sector. Services were on the rise, helping to drive growth in overall activity in Japan’s private sector.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.6% to 17,370.09, led by the Hang Seng Tech Index which dropped 0.9%. The Shanghai Composite was nearly unchanged at 2,915.46.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 7,973.20 after its services sector saw weaker growth in July. Manufacturing improved marginally but stayed in contractionary territory.
South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.3% to 2,772.55, as heavyweight Samsung Electronics slumped 1.1% after talks between the company and its largest workers’ union ended with no agreement. Earlier this month, the workers declared an indefinite strike to pressure the company to accept their calls for higher pay and other benefits.
