Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday, as rising tensions between Israel and Iran weighed on investor sentiment.
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a military strike on Iran, while demanding that the country's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "surrender," current and former U.S. officials told NBC News.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, demanded "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" by Iran.
"President Trump's comments have fueled speculation that the U.S. will become more involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel that escalated significantly five days ago," ANZ analysts wrote in a note.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.47%, and the Topix gained 0.4%. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.7% and the small-cap Kosdaq gained 0.66%.
Japan's exports fell 1.7% year-on-year in May, less than a 3.8% drop forecast by Reuters. The data came a day after the Bank of Japan highlighted in its monetary policy statement that the country's growth was likely to "slow" due to factors such as trade, which would cause a slowdown in overseas economies and a decline in domestic corporate profits.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was flat.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.87%, and mainland China's CSI 300 rose 0.18%.
U.S. stock futures were slightly lower as traders prepared for the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision due later Wednesday in the United States.
Overnight on Wall Street, all three major indexes ended the day lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 299.29 points, or 0.70%, to close at 42,215.80. The S&P 500 fell 0.84% to close at 5,982.72, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.91% to close at 19,521.09. (alg)
Source: CNBC
The Nasdaq Composite notched a perfect week of closing highs on Friday as investors took signs of weakening jobs and tame inflation to mean the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next week. Th...
European stocks closed flat on Friday, after data showed the U.K. economic growth stalled in July. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat at 0.09% with no broad consensus movement among sectors and majo...
Wall Street indexes opened subdued on Friday after notching record highs in the previous session, though they remained on track to log gains in a week of economic reports that solidified expectations ...
The STOXX 50 index edged up 0.1% to 5,390 points on Friday, its highest since late August, while the broader STOXX 600 also gained 0.1% to 555 points, as a jump in US jobless claims and a modest rise ...
European stocks closed higher Thursday, as investors reacted to the latest policy decision by the European Central Bank as well as key U.S. inflation data. The DAX index in Germany climbed 0.3%, the ...
EUR/USD remains steady during the North American session on Friday, poised to end the week with modest gains of over 0.18% as traders brace for the next week's monetary policy decision by the Federal Reserve (Fed). At the time of writing, the pair...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with BlackRock Inc executive Rick Rieder in New York on Friday, as the Trump administration continued its search for a new chair for the Federal Reserve, a source familiar with the matter said. Bessent has...
Oil prices rose on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack suspended loadings from the largest port in western Russia, but gains were capped by concerns about U.S. demand. Brent crude futures settled at $66.99 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 0.93%. U.S....
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said the Federal Reserve has scope to lower interest rates because of the weakening U.S. labor market,...
Annual inflation in the United States (US), as measured by changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 2.9% in August from 2.7% in July, the...
The University of Michigan (UoM) is expected to release the preliminary reading of its monthly Consumer Confidence Index for September on Friday....
The Nasdaq Composite notched a perfect week of closing highs on Friday as investors took signs of weakening jobs and tame inflation to mean the...