Elizabeth Quay in Perth City
Merr Watson/women Who Drone | Photodisc | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets fell Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street as investors assessed rising global bond yields and the latest developments on the trade front.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined by 0.5%, ahead of the release of its GDP reading for the second quarter ended June. Economists polled by Reuters forecast a 1.6% expansion from the year before, compared to the 1.3% posted in the previous quarter ended March.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.35%, while the broader Topix index moved down 0.21%.
Yields on Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) rose, with the yield on 10-year JGBs up 2.7 basis points to 1.630% as of 9:45 a.m. local time (8:45 p.m. ET Tuesday).
Meanwhile, the yield on 30-year JGBs increased by nearly 7 basis point to 3.280%, surpassing its previous high in August, while yields on 20-year JGBs rose over 6 basis points to 2.693%, its highest level in 26 years.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi index was flat in choppy trade, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.35%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 25,445, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s last close of 25,496.55.
Chinese markets will be in focus as President Xi Jinping is set to speak at a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II later in the day.
The event will be graced by 26 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.
U.S. equity futures mostly rose in early Asia hours, after a federal court ruling on an antitrust case on Google-parent Alphabet fueled optimism that tech majors will be able to navigate regulatory threats.
Overnight stateside, all three key benchmarks ended the day lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 249.07 points, or 0.55% to close at 45,295.81. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.69% to settle at 6,415.54, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.82% to close at 21,279.63.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh, Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.