Stocks in Australia were under pressure from a volatile oil
market Wednesday, while the rest of Asia Pacific edged up slightly
as investors eyed Greece's debt situation.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.6%, after oil prices
tumbled overnight on worries that swelling global oil inventories
would keep prices subdued the next months. WTI crude oil was up
1.5% to $50.76 a barrel in early Asia trade, although they slid
5.4% on Tuesday in New York.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported a
smaller-than-expected 1.6 million barrel build in crude stocks in
the U.S. tied to a drop in imports for the week ended Feb. 6,
according to Citi.
Energy and utilities stocks dragged on the Australian benchmark
with Woodside Petroleum Ltd. down 3.7% and Origin Energy Ltd. down
2.2%. The U.S. Energy Department will release its definitive
stockpile data later Wednesday.
Elsewhere, the Hang Seng was down 0.5%, with gains capped by the
continuing debacle between Greece and its international creditors.
While investors say they think Greece's problems are contained, the
standoff is pushing the country closer to default and leaving the
Eurozone.
The Shanghai Composite was up 0.5% on expectations that the
growing risk of a deflationary spiral in China would encourage the
country's central bank to ease monetary policy further.
Haitong International expects three or four cuts to the reserve
requirement ratio this year and one or two interest rate cuts. The
People's Bank of China late Tuesday released its fourth-quarter
monetary-policy report, saying that it would continue prudent
monetary policy and create what it described as "neutral and
appropriate monetary conditions."
Markets in Japan are closed for national holiday.
Daniel Inman contributed to this article.
Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
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