Asian shares retreated slightly on Wednesday with investors wary of any hint of hawkishness from the U.S. Federal Reserve given lofty asset valuations rely so heavily on an endless supply of super-cheap money.
A looming data dump on Chinese retail sales and industrial production offered another reason for caution, with some modest slowdown in annual growth expected.
Moves were mostly modest, apart from the oil market where Brent hit the highest since April 2019 on a potent mix of post-pandemic demand and restricted production.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.3%, while Chinese blue chips fell 1.1%.
Japan's Nikkei eased 0.5%, but South Korean stocks rose 0.6% to a record high after five months of effort.
Both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were little changed. EUROSTOXX 50 futures were also flat, while FTSE futures edged up 0.1%.
European markets edge higher as markets await Fed outcome
European stocks were slightly higher on Wednesday, as markets await the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.2% in early trade, with oil and gas stocks adding 0.7% while basic resources and autos fell 0.7%.
Global market attention will be on the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting due on Wednesday.
Reference: CNBC
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