Asian Shares Lower With Markets Cautious Ahead of Fed Meeting
August 24 2016 - 10:10PM
Dow Jones News
Shares in Asia were mostly lower Thursday, with markets cautious
ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium—which
starts later in the trading day—sidelining investors.
The Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.3% at 16,551.79 points,
tracking declines in the U.S. market. The Hang Seng Index was down
0.2%, the Shanghai Composite Index was 1% lower and the Kospi was
0.2% lower.
As has been the case all week, traders are focused on what U.S.
Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will say at her speech at Jackson Hole
on Friday, where many hope for a glimmer of guidance as to when the
world's biggest economy will next raise interest rates.
Some, however, say that even the expectation of guidance is too
hopeful.
"I think people are reading way, way too much into Jackson
Hole," said Kay Van-Petersen, Asia macro strategist at Saxo Capital
Markets. "There's a lack of direction generally in the market and I
think people are almost creating scenarios because they want
direction. From our perspective, it just does not make sense for
Yellen to posture [to one side or the other]; I think she'll just
keep the options open."
Declines overnight in the commodities sphere weighed on the big
commodities producing countries, such as Australia and Malaysia.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2% and the FTSE Bursa
Malaysia was 0.1% lower. Brent, the global oil benchmark, was
unchanged at $49.05 a barrel.
In Hong Kong, the shares of Chinese oil majors came under
pressure after releasing disappointing earnings. Cnooc Ltd. was
trading down 1.9% after the company posted a 7.7 billion yuan net
loss, compared with a 14.7 billion yuan net profit in the first
half last year. PetroChina Company Ltd. shed 1.1% of its value
after its net profit plunged 98%, to 531 million yuan ($80
million), in the six months ended June 30 compared with the first
half of 2015. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. is due to report
in coming days, which could spark more stock turbulence.
Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.
Write to Ese Erheriene at ese.erheriene@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 24, 2016 22:55 ET (02:55 GMT)
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