Asia-Pacific markets rise after Wall Street continued its slide

Asia-Pacific shares rose on Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 posted their third day of losses in the U.S.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.11% and the Topix index was slightly higher.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia added 0.26% while in South Korea, the Kospi climbed 0.5% and the Kosdaq advanced 0.83%.

TICKER	COMPANY	NAME	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.N225	Nikkei 225 Index	*NIKKEI	28401.36	-51.39	-0.18
.HSI	Hang Seng Index	*HSI	19507.01	3.76	0.02
.AXJO	S&P/ASX 200	*ASX 200	7009.4	47.6	0.68
.SSEC	Shanghai	*SHANGHAI	3279.44	3.21	0.1
.KS11	KOSPI Index	*KOSPI	2442.15	6.81	0.28
.FTFCNBCA	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	*CNBC 100	7997.45	27.19	0.34

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow slipped 154.02 points, or 0.47%, to 32,909.59. The S&P 500 dropped 0.22% to 4,128.73, and the Nasdaq Composite was slightly lower at 12,381.30.

“Equity markets weakened overnight on relatively light trading as poor manufacturing and housing data weighed on risk sentiment,” ANZ Research said in a Wednesday note.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari pointed towards supply-side shocks driving “half to two-thirds” of the nation’s high inflation.

“The more help we get from the supply side, the less the Fed has to do, and the better we’re able to avoid a hard landing,” he said, speaking at an event at the University of Pennsylvania. He did add, however, there’s some evidence that supply chains are beginning to normalize.

Australian dollar, Japanese yen weaker against the dollar after overnight moves

The Australian dollar was weaker against the greenback early in Asia after a sharp move higher overnight. The Aussie was trading at $0.6910, following a jump above $0.6950.

“A weaker USD and higher commodity prices likely contributed to AUD gains,” Carol Kong, a senior associate for international economics and currency strategy at Commonwealth Bank, wrote in a note.

The U.S. Dollar Index fell after the August flash readings for S&P Global’s Purchasing Managers Index missed expectations, and last stood at 108.695.

Japan’s Yen was at 136.87 per dollar after strengthening to 135.93 overnight.

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Fed’s Kashkari says his biggest fear is inflation will be more persistent or hotter than anticipated

Federal Reserve bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari says his biggest fear is that markets are underestimating how high inflation will go or how persistent it would be, adding that the Fed might need to be more aggressive than anticipated.

“The big fear I have at the back of my mind is if we’re wrong and markets are wrong, and that this inflation is much more embedded at a much higher level than we appreciate or markets appreciate,” he said, commenting on market expectations of inflation coming back down to 2% within the next two years.

“Then we’re going to have to be more aggressive than I anticipate, probably for longer, to bring inflation back down,” he said, speaking at an event at the University of Pennsylvania. Kashkari also pointed towards supply-side shocks driving “half to two-thirds” of the nation’s high inflation.

“The more help we get from the supply side, the less the Fed has to do, and the better we’re able to avoid a hard landing,” he said. He did add, however, there’s some evidence that supply chains are beginning to normalize.

Kashkari is already considered the most hawkish of the U.S. central bank’s 19 policymakers, and expects the Fed to need to lift its policy rate — now at a target range of 2.25% to 2.5% — another two full percentage points by the end of next year.

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Source : CNBC