China moved to reverse some of its “non-tariff” measures against the US as agreed with Washington in their temporary trade war cease-fire and most markets traded in a narrow range.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.1 per cent, however, to 37,705.74. Computer chip-related stocks were among the biggest decliners, with Disco Corp. falling 2.6 per cent and Advantest down 1.8 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the outlier, picking up 0.2 per cent to 23,691.67. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 per cent to 3,393.29, while Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.2 per cent.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,278.30. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.1 per cent lower.
On Wednesday, a choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended with a mixed finish as gains by several big technology stocks helped temper losses.
The S&P 500 edged up 0.1 per cent to 5,892.58 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2 per cent to 42,051.06. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.7 per cent to 19,146.81.
Super Micro Computer surged 15.7 per cent after signing a partnership agreement with Saudi Arabian data centre company DataVolt. Advanced Micro Devices gained 4.7 per cent after announcing a USD 6 billion stock buyback programme.
Nvidia rose 4.2 per cent and Google parent Alphabet added 3.7 per cent.
Other big gainers included eToro Group, a retail trading platform for stocks and cryptocurrency. It rose 28.8 per cent in its first day of trading.
The US will release its April report for inflation at the wholesale level on Thursday, and economists expect an easing of price pressures.
An update for retail sales is expected to reflect a sharp drop to 0.2 per cent in April from 1.4 per cent the previous month.
Retail giant Walmart will also report its latest financial results on Thursday and its financial forecasts will be closely watched.
The stock market has been relatively steady since it surged Monday after the US and China announced a 90-day pause in their trade war. The market gained more ground on Tuesday after the government reported that inflation unexpectedly cooled across the country in April.
More updates on inflation and retail sales are expected on Thursday.
Trump has delayed a large swath of his most severe tariffs against America’s trading partners, but some import taxes remain in place. Uncertainty over the path ahead continues to hang over businesses and consumers.
The on-again-off-again nature of Trump’s trade policy has left companies reluctant to make plans about investment and hiring and consumers are nervous about spending.
Businesses continue to trim or withdraw their financial forecasts as they face unpredictable trade policy and cautious consumers.
American Eagle fell 6.4 per cent after the retailer withdrew its financial outlook for the year citing “macro uncertainty.” General Motors, UPS, Kraft Heinz and JetBlue are among the many companies representing a wide range of industries that have warned about the impact of tariffs and a weakening economy.
More than 90 per cent of companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings for their latest quarter. The majority of companies have reported better-than-expected earnings, but forecasts for earnings growth during the current quarter have been broadly cut in half for companies in the index.
The economy has already showed signs of slowing. It shrank 0.3 per cent during the first quarter amid a surge of imports as businesses and consumers tried to stock up amid tariffs and policy uncertainty.
Data on consumer prices released Tuesday showed that tariffs haven’t had much impact yet. But that could change as the impact of current tariffs make their way through supply chains and delayed tariffs potentially go into effect.
Inflation has cooled to just above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 per cent, but the threat of higher prices on goods because of import taxes has heightened worries about inflation heating up.
In other dealings early Thursday, US benchmark crude oil lost USD 1.25 to USD 61.90 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up USD 1.25 to USD 64.84 per barrel.
The dollar slipped to 146.26 Japanese Yen from 146.75 Yen. The Euro rose to USD 1.1196 from USD 1.1174. (AP) NPK NPK
