Asia-Pacific markets trade mostly lower ahead of China activity data release

Abigail Ng

Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mostly lower on Tuesday as a slew of economic data is scheduled to be released from China, and following the meeting between its president Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.29%. South Korea’s Kospi gave up earlier gains to fall 0.41%.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan was about flat as the nation’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter, official data showed.

Mainland China markets were mixed as the country is set to report industrial production and retail sales data. The Shanghai Composite was slightly higher, while the Shenzhen Component lost around 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.42%. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.68% higher.

TICKER	COMPANY	NAME	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.N225	Nikkei 225 Index	*NIKKEI	27971.51	8.04	0.03
.HSI	Hang Seng Index	*HSI	17879.1	259.39	1.47
.AXJO	S&P/ASX 200	*ASX 200	7126.5	-19.8	-0.28
.SSEC	Shanghai	*SHANGHAI	3092.14	8.74	0.28
.KS11	KOSPI Index	*KOSPI	2469.54	-5.11	-0.21
.FTFCNBCA	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	*CNBC 100	7653.06	93.66	1.24

Major U.S. stock indexes closed lower overnight following a choppy session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 211.16 points, or 0.6%, to 33,536.70. The S&P 500 shed 0.89% to 3,957.25, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.12% to 11,196.22.

— CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel and Yun Li contributed to this report.

Australia’s central bank hints at larger interest rate hikes ahead

The Reserve Bank of Australia hinted at further and possibly larger interest hikes ahead in its efforts to tame inflationary pressures, according to the minutes released from its latest meeting.

“The Board agreed on the importance of returning inflation to target and expects to increase interest rates further over the period ahead,” it said in the release.

The central bank had considered raising its cash rates by 50 basis points, but saw a stronger case to increase the rate by 25 basis points, it said.

Higher interest rates would be part of wider efforts to “establish a more sustainable balance of demand and supply in the Australian economy,” the RBA said, adding that members had not ruled out the possibility of returning to larger hikes if needed.

– Jihye Lee

Japan’s economy unexpectedly contracts in the third quarter, data shows

Japan’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter from a year ago, official preliminary estimates showed.

Gross domestic product shrank 1.2%in the July-to-September quarter compared with the same period last year, missing estimates for growth of 1.1% in a Reuters poll.

— Abigail Ng

CNBC Pro: China is easing its Covid measures. Here’s how market pros are playing it

Which stocks could benefit if China rolls back its zero-Covid policy? Market pros reveal how to play a reopening as China eases some of its virus controls.

— Zavier Ong

Stocks off lows of session on Brainard comments

The S&P 500 rebounded off its lows and Treasury yields eased from their highs a bit late morning after Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said it may “soon” be appropriate to slow the pace of interest rate hikes, in a conversation with Bloomberg News.

The S&P 500 was last just down 0.1% after being off by more than 0.7% at one point Monday. The 10-year Treasury yield was 5 basis points higher to 3.878% after trading as high as about 3.90% earlier.

“I think what’s really important to emphasize is we’ve done a lot but we have additional work to do both on raising rates and sustaining restraint to bring inflation down to 2% over time,” Brainard added.

—John Melloy, Jeff Cox

Fed’s Waller’s message to markets: Rates endpoint is ‘still a ways out there’

Fed Governor Chirstopher Waller said that, while the central bank could raise rates at a slower pace next month, this shouldn’t be interpreted as a softening sign in its fight to bring down inflation.

“Quit paying attention to the pace and start paying attention to where the endpoint is going to be. Until we get inflation down, that endpoint is still a ways out there,” Waller said Sunday.

Earlier this month, the Fed raised rates by 75 basis points to their highest level since 2008.

— Fred Imbert

Source : CNBC