Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders continued to move money out of relatively risky assets like stocks ahead of the release of key US inflation data later in the day that could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell had said following last week's rate hike that the central bank would take a "data-dependent approach" to future monetary policy decisions.

There are also concerns after U.S. President Joe Biden and top lawmakers failed to break a deadlock on the US debt ceiling crisis that could result in default if not addressed.

The Australian stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 mark, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by losses in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 11.70 points or 0.16 percent to 7,252.40, after hitting a low of 7,236.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 8.10 points or 0.11 percent to 7,448.60. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Rio Tinto is edging down 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos and Beach energy are losing almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are edging down 0.2 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.2 percent. Zip is flat. Shares in Appen are plummeting almost 18 percent after it revealed that fiscal 2023 revenue will decline materially.