Asian markets mixed, Shanghai falls as Fitch cuts China’s rating outlook

A cyclist moves past an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

BANGKOK  — Shares were mixed Wednesday in Asia after U.S. stock indexes held at a near standstill ahead of some potentially market-moving reports.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.7 percent to 17,115.94, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.8 percent to 3,026.11 after Fitch Ratings lowered its outlook for China’s public finances.

The report by Fitch cited increased risks due to China’s shift away from reliance on its troubled property sector and rising public debt.

“There is little clarity on reform measures to support medium-term fiscal consolidation,” it said.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gave up 0.5 percent to 39,581.81 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney gained 0.3 percent to 7,848.50.

India’s Sensex advanced 0.3 percent and the SET in Bangkok climbed 0.5 percent.

Markets in South Korea were closed for an election.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 edged up 0.1 percent to 5,209.91 after barely budging the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped less than 0.1 percent, to 38,883.67, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent, to 16,306.64.

READ: Wall Street barely budges as it braces for Wednesday’s inflation report

Later Wednesday ,the U.S. will release its highly anticipated update on inflation at the consumer level. This week will also bring other reports on inflation, and big U.S. companies will begin reporting how much profit they made during the first three months of the year.

Rate cut expectations

The dominant question hanging over Wall Street is whether inflation will cool enough to convince the Federal Reserve to deliver the cuts to interest rates that traders are craving and have been betting on.

“There’s a palpable sense of nervousness among investors as they exercise a modicum of restraint, concerned about the possibility of hotter-than-expected inflation figures,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Some doubts have crept in following a series of hotter -than- expected reports on the economy, and traders now expect just two or three cuts to rates this year. Some are even talking about the possibility of zero. That’s down from forecasts at the start of the year for six or seven cuts, according to data from CME Group.

READ: Another month of robust US job growth points to continued economic strength

The Fed’s main interest rate is at its highest level in more than two decades and the risk is that rates left too high for too long might cause a recession.

While a jump in oil prices this year has raised worries about a feedthrough into inflation, oil would likely need to rise “well above levels seen even in the peak Russia-Ukraine commodity price spike for a meaningful impact on core inflation,” the Bank of America strategists said in a BofA Global Research report.

U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 21 cents early Wednesday to $85.44 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, it fell $1.20 to settle at $85.23, trimming its gain for the year so far to below 20 percent.

Brent crude, the international standard, was up 22 cents to $89.64 per barrel, after falling 96 cents on Wednesday to $89.42 per barrel.

S&P 500 gets boost from Apple

On Wall Street, Apple helped nudge the S&P 500 higher by rising 0.7 percent. It trimmed it loss for the year to a shade below 12 percent.

Norfolk Southern rose 1.3 percent even though the railroad reported preliminary earnings results for the first quarter that were shy of analysts’ expectations.

It agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment last year in eastern Ohio.

The company said the agreement, if approved by the court, will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius for those choosing to participate.

Some of Wall Street’s largest losses came from the same stocks that have been the biggest winners in the market’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.

Nvidia sank 2 percent, and because it’s one of the biggest stocks in the market, it was the single heaviest force weighing on the S&P 500. Super Micro Computer fell 2.6 percent, though its stock has still more than tripled so far this year.

Tilray Brands tumbled 20.7 percent after the cannabis company reported weaker revenue growth for its latest quarter than analysts expected.

In currency dealings, the U.S. dollar rose to 151.79 Japanese yen from 151.75 yen. The euro fell to $1.0855 from $1.0857.