Asian stocks outside Japan drop, Fed rate hike outlook weighs

The stocks on the Asian bourses kicked-off the day on a bearish note, tracking a negative close on Wall Street overnight, while increased odds for a Dec Fed rate hike also dampened investors’ sentiment.

While the Japanese stocks flipped to gains as the yen buying stalled in Asia today, amid an improved risk sentiment witnessed in the markets after Hard-Brexit fears eased somewhat, following UK PM May’s acceptance of a Parliamentary vote over Brexit terms. However, further gains remain capped as sharp yuan devaluation by the PBOC today, also hurts overall sentiment.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 trades +0.30% higher around 16,900, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 drops -0.38% to 5460. The Chinese equities keep losses, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index down -0.28%, while CSI300 index also drops -0.30%. Hong Kong markets decline -0.83% to trade around 23,350 levels.