Lower As Fedspeak Spurs Caution

Most Asia-Pac equity indices are in the red at writing, following a negative lead from Wall St. Bearish spillover in the wake of Fed Gov Brainard’s hawkish comments on Tuesday was evident, with high-beta equities across the region struggling as U.S. Tsy yields have pushed higher in Asian hours.

• The Chinese CSI300 sits 0.5% worse off at typing, with a large miss in the Caixin Services PMI earlier in the session sending the index tumbling from neutral levels. The richly valued consumer staples sub-index struggled, while the large-cap ChiNext and tech-heavy STAR50 indices underperformed as well, with the latter duo dealing 1.3% and 2.3% softer respectively at writing.
• The Hang Seng trades 1.4% lower at typing, having pared losses from worst levels earlier in the session. China-based tech stocks underperformed, with the Hang Seng Tech Index dealing 3.2% weaker.
• Japan’s Nikkei 225 leads losses amongst regional peers, sitting 1.7% lower at typing. Tech-related stocks were mostly softer, while favoured names such as Tokyo Electron and Fast Retailing provided the most drag on the index. Elsewhere, financial and energy-related equities fared a little better, with limited gains observed in banking stocks.
• U.S. e-mini equity index futures sit flat to 0.2% worse off with NASDAQ contracts leading losses, each trading a touch above recently made one-week lows at typing.