Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Tuesday after losses on Wall Street, with investors holding back ahead of a December 10 decision by the US Federal Reserve.
The central bank is expected to cut interest rates by an additional 25 basis points at its last meeting of the year, bringing the Federal Funds rate to 3.5%-3.75%. But experts say the Fed will then take a more data-driven stance.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Jerome Powell said, ‘We’ve cut, and now we’re in a situation where we really have to watch the data,’ and he’s going to stop at the edge of being hawkish because we’ve seen weakness in the labor market,” said Stephen Kolano, chief investment officer at Integrated Partners.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.14% in a volatile trading session, closing at 50,655.1, while the broader Topix was unchanged, ending at 3,384.92.
Tech gains capped the Nikkei’s losses, with names like Konica Minolta up 5.72% and semiconductor maker Disco Corp adding 4.66%, among the index’s top gainers.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.27% to 4,143.55, but small firm Kosdaq ended the day 0.38% higher at 931.35, SEEbiz reports.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.29% to 25,434.23, leading losses in Asia, while mainland China’s CSI 300 index lost 0.51% to end at 4,598.22.
India’s Nifty 50 fell 0.25%, while the BSE Sensex was 0.27% lower.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.45% to 8,585.9 after the country’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 3.6%, as expected.
