Investing.com – Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economic recovery doesn’t meet the threshold for scaling back its bond purchase plans, while shares in the commodity sector led markets lower.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.40%, South Korea's Kospi Composite shed 0.12%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.17%.
Shares in the commodity sector were broadly lower after crude oil and metal prices plunged on Tuesday.
Shares in Japan’s largest mining group Sumitomo Metal Mining tumbled 1.79%, the nation’s biggest oil exporter Inpex saw shares shed 0.40%, while shares in Sumitomo Metal Industries slumped 1.49%.
Meanwhile, shares in the financial sector performed poorly, tracking overnight losses from their counterparts in Wall Street.
Shares in Japan’s largest lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 1.35%, rivals Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group saw shares slump 1.50%, while Japan’s third-largest lender Mizuho Financial Group shed 0.64%.
Meanwhile, shares in Yahoo Japan, operator of the nation’s most visited web portal plunged 4.73% after the stock was downgraded to “sell” by Goldman Sachs.
However, the Nikkei’s losses were limited as shares in automakers performed strongly. Shares in Toyota, the world’s largest automaker gained 0.92% after it said it sold 846,000 vehicles in China in 2010, up 20% from a year earlier.
Shares in Nissan jumped 0.99% after data showed that the company’s total December vehicle sales in North America jumped by 27% from a year earlier.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.58% amid broad weakness in resource-related stocks.
Shares in the world’s largest mining group BHP Billiton slumped 0.97%, gold producer Newcrest Mining saw shares plunge 1.65%, while shares in coal producer Macarthur Coal tumbled 1.91% after it said it would take weeks to restore production halted by flooding across Australia's Queensland state.
The outlook for European equity markets, meanwhile, was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.32%, France’s CAC 40 futures indicated a drop of 0.37%, the FTSE 100 futures pointed to a decrease of 0.26%, while Germany's DAX futures were down 0.15%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on ADP non-farm payrolls and service sector growth, while the euro zone was to publish official data on industrial new orders.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.40%, South Korea's Kospi Composite shed 0.12%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.17%.
Shares in the commodity sector were broadly lower after crude oil and metal prices plunged on Tuesday.
Shares in Japan’s largest mining group Sumitomo Metal Mining tumbled 1.79%, the nation’s biggest oil exporter Inpex saw shares shed 0.40%, while shares in Sumitomo Metal Industries slumped 1.49%.
Meanwhile, shares in the financial sector performed poorly, tracking overnight losses from their counterparts in Wall Street.
Shares in Japan’s largest lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 1.35%, rivals Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group saw shares slump 1.50%, while Japan’s third-largest lender Mizuho Financial Group shed 0.64%.
Meanwhile, shares in Yahoo Japan, operator of the nation’s most visited web portal plunged 4.73% after the stock was downgraded to “sell” by Goldman Sachs.
However, the Nikkei’s losses were limited as shares in automakers performed strongly. Shares in Toyota, the world’s largest automaker gained 0.92% after it said it sold 846,000 vehicles in China in 2010, up 20% from a year earlier.
Shares in Nissan jumped 0.99% after data showed that the company’s total December vehicle sales in North America jumped by 27% from a year earlier.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.58% amid broad weakness in resource-related stocks.
Shares in the world’s largest mining group BHP Billiton slumped 0.97%, gold producer Newcrest Mining saw shares plunge 1.65%, while shares in coal producer Macarthur Coal tumbled 1.91% after it said it would take weeks to restore production halted by flooding across Australia's Queensland state.
The outlook for European equity markets, meanwhile, was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.32%, France’s CAC 40 futures indicated a drop of 0.37%, the FTSE 100 futures pointed to a decrease of 0.26%, while Germany's DAX futures were down 0.15%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on ADP non-farm payrolls and service sector growth, while the euro zone was to publish official data on industrial new orders.