Asia Pacific Stocks Fell Ahead of US Fed Policy Meeting

On Tuesday, June 15, most Asia Pacific stocks fell as investors keep an eye on the latest US Federal Reserve policy decision.

China’s indexes Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component flopped 1.16% and 0.19%, respectively.

The same happened with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, which also subsided by 1.12%. All of these three markets just resumed after their respective holidays.

Consequently, South Korea’s KOSPI also plummeted 0.05%.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 of Japan rose 0.66%.

While Australia’s ASX 200 also climbed 0.99% as the Reserve Bank of Australia announced the minutes from its previous meeting.

On the other hand, on Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve will release its latest policy decision.

Investors are searching for hints from the central bank on its timetable to begin tapering assets.

However, the Fed’s decision will probably keep the bond purchase rates equal. At the same time, it makes a forecast for an interest rate increase in 2023.

Aside from the US Fed, the Swiss National Bank and Norges Bank will also announce their respective policy decisions on Thursday. Subsequently, the Bank of Japan will follow on Friday.

Ahead of the Fed meeting, investors anticipate data cut down, including the producer price index, retail sales, and industrial production.

All of these are due in the day for further clues into the economy’s health of the United States.

Elsewhere, the EU-US summit should happen in Brussels on June 15 as the Group of Seven (G7) summit in the UK’s Cornwall ended last June 13.

Also, on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden will have a meeting in Geneva with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

US Stocks Mixed

Last Monday, US stocks were mixed as Technology, Consumer Services, and Utilities sectors led the shares higher.

While the sectors in Basic Materials, Financials, and Oil & Gas led the shares lower.

At the end of the session, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average shrank 0.25%.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index and the NASDAQ Composite index both gained 0.18% and 0.74%.

Salesforce.com, Apple Inc, and Microsoft Corp led the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains by progressing 2.50%, 2.47%, and 0.77%, respectively.

In addition, the S&P 500’s top performers were ResMed Inc, MarketAxess Holdings Inc, and Adobe Systems Inc, which all rose 6.01%, 3.22%, and 2.89%, respectively.

Lastly, in the NASDAQ Composite, RAPT Therapeutics, Enochian Biosciences Inc, and Mediaco Holding Inc all climbed 115.24%, 54.20%, and 45.31%, respectively.

However, the falling stocks outperformed the advancing firms on the New York Stock Exchange by 1903 to 1313 and 98, which closed unmoved.

In addition, on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1850 were down, and 1638 were up, while 137 stayed.