The FINANCIAL — Asian markets posted a broadly lower close on Wednesday, taking their lead from Wall Street, which saw downward momentum after weak earnings results from some big-name stocks.
Apple’s below-estimate Q4 revenue forecast hit Japan’s component manufacturers hard. Murata Manufacturing, a Tokyo-based firm which creates ceramic capacitors and is said to rely on the Cupertino-based tech giant for up to half of its business, fell by more than 6%. The Nikkei closed down 1.2%, according to Nasdaq.
The Hang Seng spent the whole of Wednesday below the line, closing down 1% amid weak U.S. earnings reports from United Technologies (UTX) and IBM among others. Investors are now eyeing next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, which may hold further clues about the timing of the U.S. rate hike.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite continued Tuesday’s rally, ending the day up 0.2% despite some profit taking after the index crossed the 4,000 threshold.
Australia ASX All Ordinaries -85.70 -1.51% 5,602.80
Shanghai SE Composite Index +8.37 +0.21% 4,026.04
Hang Seng -253.81 -0.99% 25,282.62
Nikkei 225 -248.30 -1.19% 20,593.67
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