SINGAPORE – Shares in Asia-Pacific look set to start lower on Wednesday after an overnight drop on Wall Street, with investors looking forward to the release of a separate survey on corporate performance. Chinese factories in May.
Japanese stocks look poised for a lower start. Nikkei futures in Chicago were at 27,235 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 27,220, lower Nikkei 225’s last close at 27,279.80.
Futures also pointed to a decline open to Australian equities, with SPI futures at 7,186, vs. S&P / ASX 200’s last close at 7,211.20. Australia’s first quarter gross domestic product data will be released at 9:30 am HK/SIN today.
Markets in South Korea are closed on Wednesday for a public holiday.
China’s Caixin/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index for May is released at 9:45 a.m. HK/SIN on Wednesday.
China’s official manufacturing PMI for May, released on Tuesday, was at 49.6 – an improvement from April’s 47.4. The May index was above the 48.6 expected from a Reuters poll but remained below the 50 mark, stalling growth and contraction. PMI readings are sequential and represent a monthly expansion or contraction.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.63% to 4,132.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 222.84 points, or 0.67%, to 32,990.12. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.41% to 12,081.39.
Currency
The US Dollar Indextracks the greenback against its basket of currencies, at 101.752 after a recent drop from above 102.
The Japanese yen was trading at 128.75 per dollar, lower than the below 127.8 seen against the greenback earlier in the week. The Australian dollar at $0.7179, still stronger than the lows below $0.708 seen last week.
