BANGKOK (AP) – Stocks fell in most Asian markets Thursday ahead of a key U.S. inflation report due Friday that could point the way forward for interest rates.
Benchmarks fell more than 1% in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney. Oil and US futures prices also fell.
The major focus of markets this week is on a US government inflation report due on Friday. The personal consumption expenditure index, or PCE, is Federal Reserve favored the inflation measure and analysts said investors were on a wait-and-see basis after recent mixed data.
Recent updates on inflation could affect the central bank’s decision on when to start cutting interest rates, which remain at their highest level in more than 20 years and have a worldwide impact.
In Asian trade, another set of measures to boost the Chinese property market failed to lift market sentiment. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.9% to 17,746.53, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.5%.
The latest move came from Beijing, one of China’s biggest cities, when China’s capital cut minimum down payment ratios and mortgage interest rates starting Thursday.
Markets are reeling from the latest data, as reported by AP’s Seth Sutel.
Other Chinese cities have taken similar measures in line with national policies aimed at attracting buyers in a market that has weakened since the government cracked down on excessive borrowing by property developers, causing dozens of such companies to default on their debts. . The downturn has dragged down the entire economy, the second largest in the world.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell 1% to 39,286.97, amid concerns about further weakening of the Japanese yen.
The US dollar was trading at 160.43 yen early on Thursday, having crossed the 160 level a day earlier. Japanese officials have warned that they may intervene in the market to counter the trend, which has both positive and negative effects on the economy.
Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1% to 7,708.10, while shares also fell in Taiwan and India. Bangkok’s SET fell, while shares rose in Jakarta and Singapore.
On Wednesday, a largely subdued day of trading left Wall Street benchmarks near the all-time highs they set last week.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,477.90 after drifting between small gains and losses most of the day. About 65% of stocks in the underlying index fell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended less than 0.1% higher at 39,127.80, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.5% to 17,805.16.
Several large stocks helped offset the broader S&P 500’s decline.
Amazon.com rose 3.9%, surpassing $2 trillion in market value for the first time. Its rise comes just days after Nvidia hit $3 trillion, briefly becoming the most valuable company on Wall Street.
Chipotle had a 0.3% gain in its first day of trading after a 50-for-1 stock split. It was previously among the most expensive stocks in the S&P 500.
FedEx helped offset the losses with a 15.5% gain. The package carrier reported results for its latest quarter that easily beat forecasts. Rivian rose 23.2% after Volkswagen said it would invest up to $5 billion in the struggling electric vehicle maker.
Some big tech companies gained ground. Apple rose 2% and Microsoft gained 0.3%. Their large values tend to greatly influence the direction of the market.
Investors hope the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates, but its effort to tame inflation to its 2% target has been fraught. Wall Street is betting on a rate cut at the central bank’s September meeting.
The economy has remained relatively strong, despite inflation and high borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. However, economic growth has slowed, and consumers appear to be more stressed and shifting spending toward necessities. Wall Street hopes the Fed can time its rate cut in order to ease pressure on the economy before it slows too much but also falls short of its goal of cooling inflation.
In other deals, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 21 cents to $80.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 19 cents to $84.28 a barrel.
The euro rose to $1.0693 from $1.0681.
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AP Business writers Damian J. Troise and Stan Choe contributed.