20/04/2023
Today’s Announcements & News
Asia
Wall Street’s earnings season continued on Wednesday, and U.S. Federal Reserve officials provided mixed signals regarding future rate hikes. This led to mixed trading in Asia-Pacific markets.
Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, told CNBC that he expects one more 25-basis-point rate hike before assessing how it will affect the economy. The Federal Funds rate in the United States would rise to between 5% and 5.25 percent as a result of this.
Bostic’s remarks come as St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard has stated to Reuters that he favors a higher terminal rate of 5.50 percent to 5.75 percent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
shut hardly down at 7,362.3, while Japan’s Nikkei 225
plunged 0.18% to end the day at 28.606.76. The Topix finished at 2,040.38 after losing 0.02%.
The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.16 percent to close at 2,575.08, while the Kosdaq also gained a little to 909.2.
The Shanghai Composite fell 0.68 percent to 3,370.13 and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.84 percent to 11,760.27, both of which were lower than the overall market. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 1.23 percent, and the Hang Seng Tech index fell 2.3 percent.
United States
As investors scrutinized Netflix and Morgan Stanley’s most recent results, earnings season kicked off, and the S&P 500 ended the day little changed.
The Nasdaq Composite managed a 0.03% gain to close at 12,157.23, while the benchmark index fell 0.01% to 4,154.52. The Dow Jones Modern Normal
lost 79.62 focuses, or 0.23%, to complete at 33,897.01.
Even though many of the companies that reported the previous day outperformed analysts’ low-bar estimates, traders discovered something wrong with the results, which caused the stock market to fall. With the Federal Reserve scheduled to raise interest rates once more in a few weeks and rumors of a recession circulating, investors were also concerned due to a lack of forecasts from the major companies.
Commodity
As U.S. yields continued to rise, gold prices dropped below the crucial $2,000 level on Wednesday. This resulted in investors becoming more pessimistic regarding the possibility of U.S. rate cuts later this year.
At $1,995.91 an ounce, spot gold was down 0.45%. To $2,008.50, U.S. gold futures lost 0.55 percent.
Despite a sharp decline in U.S. crude inventories, oil prices fell about 2% on Wednesday to a two-week low. This was due to fears that upcoming Federal Reserve interest rate hikes could reduce energy demand in the world’s largest consumer.
By increasing the price of oil in other nations, a stronger U.S. dollar may reduce global demand. Europe’s still-high inflation and China’s inconsistent economic data, the world’s largest crude importer, also discouraged investors.
The above analysis is only for the views of market researchers and is for reference only and is not regarded as a specific investment suggestion.
