Asia-Pacific markets mostly lower after Wall Street rally falters; Japan trade swings to deficit

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Wednesday after U.S. benchmark indexes, the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite, snapped an eight-day winning streak overnight. Japan’s trade data for July showed exports rose 10.3% year on year and imports grew 16.6%. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that exports would rise 11.4%, while imports growth was pegged at 14.9%. With exports coming in lower than expected and imports rising more than expected, Japan swung to a trade deficit of 621.84 billion yen ($4.28 billion), a larger figure than the 330.7 billion yen expected by economists. July will be the last month of trade data recorded before the Bank of Japan’s move to raise interest rates at the end of July, which caused the yen to strengthen dramatically. Typically, a weaker yen benefits Japanese exporters and trading houses, heavyweights on the Nikkei 225 and whose rise has been instrumental in lifting the index to its record highs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.29% after the data release, closing at 37,951.8, while the broad based Topix fell 0.21% and ended at 2,664.86. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.82% as of its final hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was 0.33% lower to end at 3,321.64. The index inched closer to its six-month low set on Aug. 14. Technology and consumer cyclical stocks dragged the HSI, with e-commerce giant JD.com leading declines, down as much as 11%. The losses come after U.S. retail giant Walmart told CNBC it was looking to sell its stake in JD.com. The stake could reportedly be worth $3.74 billion. South Korea’s Kospi reversed losses to climb 0.17% to 2,701.13, but the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.96% to end at 779.87. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also swung back into positive territory late in the session, inching up 0.16% to finish at 8,010. This is the first time the index crossed the 8,000 mark since the Aug. 2 market meltdown.