Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, even as Wall Street faced a decline. Investors are awaiting the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates, with high expectations for an increase.
Expectations from the Federal Reserve
U.S. futures also rose. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in three years, as inflation in the United States remains high and above the target set by the Federal Reserve.
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The Nikkei 225 index in Japan rose 0.4% to 63,721.89, despite official data showing that Japan recorded its fourth consecutive month of trade deficit in August.
Stock Movements in Asia
The KOSPI index in South Korea rose 1.3% to 6,711.62. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 0.1% to 24,700.62. The Shanghai Composite index also rose 0.6% to 3,886.48.
AI-related stocks continued to fluctuate after U.S. AI leaders called for a slowdown in the development of this technology to ensure safety.
SoftBank Group, a major investor in OpenAI, fell 1% after rising 7.5% the previous day. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 1.4%, while Japanese memory maker Kioxia Holdings fell 2.9%.
South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix rose 2.9%. Samsung Electronics also increased by 1.9%.
The Taiwan Taiex index rose 1.1%. One of the leading AI chip manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), rose 0.2%.
The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia rose 0.3% to 8,694.20.
Stability of Oil Prices
Oil prices stabilized on Wednesday after an increase on Tuesday, as tensions between the United States and Iran continue and the closure of a vital Saudi oil pipeline puts additional pressure on global oil supply.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.5% to $108.18 per barrel, but remains above the level of around $72 per barrel before the war began in late February.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $104.94 per barrel.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 index on Wall Street fell 0.5%. The Dow Jones lost 0.6% of its value, and the Nasdaq Composite index decreased by 0.8%.
AI stocks in the United States remained stable. Nvidia rose 0.6%, while Advanced Micro Devices increased by 2.2%.
Increase in U.S. Treasury Yields
The rise in U.S. Treasury yields has put additional pressure on the stock market. Yields on government bonds have contributed to rising inflation due to the energy crisis caused by the war in Iran, while the U.S. national debt has also increased.
The yield on 10-year bonds reached 4.98% on Wednesday morning, after hitting 5.04% earlier this week, the highest level in recent years.
In other trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 155.36 Japanese yen from 155.10 yen. The euro traded at $1.1543, a slight decrease from $1.1544.
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Source: abcnews.com
