Asian Stock Market: Hang Seng lead declines amid China’s property sector concern

Asian stocks mostly edge lower on Wednesday despite their higher US counterparts.
Investors remain concerned about Beijing’s plan to introduce a real estate tax, the latest COVID-19 outbreak.
Upbeat Australia’s quarterly CPI figures fuel early RBA’s rate hike bets.

Rekha Chauhan Independent Analyst

Asia-Pacific stocks edge lower amid reduced risk appetite ahead of major central banking policy decisions. Further, investors remained concerned about higher inflation and the indebted real estate sector in China.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.53%, so far.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.47%, following fresh concerns after another real-estate developer, Modern Land defaulted. Chinese authorities asked Evergrande Group’s founder Hui Ka Yan to use his personal wealth to pay off the firm’s debt. Further, there were 59 confirmed coronavirus cases as compared to 43 on the previous day.

The Nikkei 225 index declined 0.4% as investors geared up for the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) monetary policy update on Thursday.

The ASX 200 traded 0.4% higher on Wednesday. The market sentiment was underpinned by ongoing economic reopening plans. Australia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.8% in September on a quarterly basis, as per the market expectations.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.80% while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.71% on the day.

Author

Rekha Chauhan

Independent Analyst

Rekha Chauhan has been working as a content writer and research analyst in the forex and equity market domain for over two years.

GBP/USD retreats from weekly high vs firmer USD as focus shifts to BoE, US data

The GBP/USD pair struggles to capitalize on the previous day's strong move up to the weekly high and drifts lower during the Asian session on Thursday. Spot prices currently trade around mid-1.3300s, down over 0.10% for the day, and, for now, seem to have stalled the recovery move from a nearly four-week low, touched on Tuesday.

EUR/USD edges lower to near 1.1450 ahead of German/ EU GDP

EUR/USD trades with mild losses around 1.1450 in the early European hours on Thursday. The US Dollar recovers ground on renewed Mideast hostilities, despite a cautious Fed hold. Traders now brace for preliminary readings of the second-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from Germany, the Eurozone and the US.

Gold extends intraday rejection slide from $4,100

Gold extends its intraday rejection slide from the $4,100 mark and moves further away from a one-week high, touched the previous day. The US Dollar regains positive traction following Wednesday's post-FOMC decline and is seen as a key factor weighing on the commodity.

Mixed signals leave XRP and XLM at crossroads

Ripple and Stellar are trading at critical technical levels on Thursday. XRP has stabilized above the psychological $1.00 support, while XLM is testing support at $0.173. Traders should be cautious as mixed derivatives metrics keep the outlook uncertain for both altcoins. Derivatives data shows mixed sentiment among traders. CoinGlass’ long-to-short ratio for XRP reads 1.02 on Thursday.

Fed review: Reversing course (?)

At face value, the FOMC's 9-3 split decision hold was exactly in line with the expectations we laid out in our Fed preview - a divided hold, 22 July. We also named the three dissenters - Hammack, Logan and Kashkari - as the most likely hawks to support rapid tightening.

US Dollar mid-year outlook: Exceptional currency, exceptional risks?

The US Dollar enters the second half of 2026 in a markedly different position from a year ago. The King currency has recovered, reflecting persistent US inflation, changing expectations for Fed policy, geopolitical tensions and renewed demand for defensive assets.