Japan's Nikkei share average lost its grip on earlier gains on Wednesday, as recent demand for banking stocks dried up and investors turned cautious ahead of a raft of US economic data that could shed light on the direction of Federal Reserve policy.
The Nikkei dropped 0.33% to 15,076 in Tokyo while the broader Topix also shed 0.3% or 3 points to 1,233. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 43 points at 23,700, despite weakness elsewhere in Asia as financial stocks, such as Bank of East Asia and Bank of China pushed ahead.
Focus is expected to turn to minutes of the Fed's October policy meeting while upcoming US retail sales and inflation figures are also due out later on Wednesday.
Investors will also be closely watching the policy announcement due out on Thursday from the Bank of Japan, as well as the most recent survey data scheduled for release on Chinese manufacturing.
The latest trade data from Japan showed the nation's exports climbed 18.6% in October from the previous year, better than forecasts for a 17.3% gain. Japanese imports rose 26.1% however, bringing the trade deficit to over ¥1trn, wider than the ¥810bn deficit expected.
Yen sensitive stocks such as Kyocera, Tokyo Electron and Fanuc headed lower as the yen strengthened slightly, with the dollar trading at ¥100.
Source: LiveCharts
The Nikkei dropped 0.33% to 15,076 in Tokyo while the broader Topix also shed 0.3% or 3 points to 1,233. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 43 points at 23,700, despite weakness elsewhere in Asia as financial stocks, such as Bank of East Asia and Bank of China pushed ahead.
Focus is expected to turn to minutes of the Fed's October policy meeting while upcoming US retail sales and inflation figures are also due out later on Wednesday.
Investors will also be closely watching the policy announcement due out on Thursday from the Bank of Japan, as well as the most recent survey data scheduled for release on Chinese manufacturing.
The latest trade data from Japan showed the nation's exports climbed 18.6% in October from the previous year, better than forecasts for a 17.3% gain. Japanese imports rose 26.1% however, bringing the trade deficit to over ¥1trn, wider than the ¥810bn deficit expected.
Yen sensitive stocks such as Kyocera, Tokyo Electron and Fanuc headed lower as the yen strengthened slightly, with the dollar trading at ¥100.
Source: LiveCharts
