Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US benchmarks rose on Tuesday.

ASX futures were up 0.3% or 23 points as of 8:00am on Wednesday, suggesting a higher open.

U.S. main indexes closed higher as the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates on hold tomorrow and despite sharp declines in some tech names.

The DJIA rose 0.8% to 39111, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% to 5179 and Nasdaq rose 0.4% to 16167.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 0.5% to US$87.29 a barrel, while gold was down 0.1% at US$2,157.73.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was up at 3.81% while the 10 Year yield was also up at 4.08%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.69% and the 10 Year yield at 4.29%.

The Australian dollar hit 65.31 US cents down from its previous close of 65.59. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was down at 98.53.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower amid subdued sentiment on persisting property concerns. Most sectors fell in the session, led by financial and pharmaceutical stocks. WuXi AppTec slid 4.9% after guiding for downbeat 2024 revenue amid concerns about potential U.S. sanctions. Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine dropped 2.8%. Citic Securities was 2.0% lower and East Money Information shed 1.9%. Energy stocks ended higher, with Cnooc up 1.0% and China Shenhua Energy rising 1.55%. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.7% lower at 3062.76, the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.4% and the ChiNext Price Index dropped 1.0%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.2% to close at 16529.48, weighed down by biotech and transport-related stocks. Li Auto fell 8.0% after BofA Securities cut its target price on the stock, and lowered sales estimates. WuXi AppTec slid 7.5% after issuing a downbeat 2024 revenue outlook amid concerns about potential U.S. sanctions. Wuxi Biologics slumped 5.7%. Among other decliners, Orient Overseas (International) shed 5.6%. Meanwhile, gainers included Cnooc, which rose 1.5%, and Xinyi Solar, which was 2.4% higher. The Hang Seng Tech Index closed 1.8% lower at 3528.47.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in real-estate stocks after the Bank of Japan ended negative interest rates, saying that a new era of stable inflation is in sight. Sumitomo Realty & Development gained 8.3% and Mitsui Fudosan climbed 5.4%. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7% to 40003.60. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell 3 bps to 0.725%. Investors are focused on U.S. economic data and their policy implications. USD/JPY was at 150.42, compared with 149.15 as of Monday 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

India shares ended lower, with the benchmark Sensex down 1.0% at 72012.05. Investors are eyeing a Fed meeting this week, as well as a host of other central bank decisions and their implications. Tata Consultancy Services and other tech stocks led the losses. Tata Consultancy was down 4.0% after reports on its parent company Tata Sons is about to trim its stake in the company. HCL Technologies closed 2.6% lower and Tech Mahindra lost 1.7%. Finance and bank stocks led the gains. Bajaj Finance closed 1.4% higher and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up 0.6%. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank both closed 0.2% higher.

Europe

European stocks finished Tuesday higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index closing up 0.26% at 505.23, the CAC 40 Index up 0.65% to 8,201.05, and the DAX up 0.31% at 17,987.49

The FTSE 100 index closed Tuesday up 0.2% at 7,738.30 points.

North America

U.S. main indexes closed higher as the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates on hold tomorrow and despite sharp declines in some tech names.

The DJIA rose 0.8% to 39111, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% to 5179 and Nasdaq rose 0.4% to 16167.

Super Micro lost 9% after the server maker said it plans to sell 2 million shares.

Software provider MicroStrategy fell 5.7% after it sold convertible bonds to buy Bitcoin, which was weakening today. Still, gains among some of the largest tech stocks, including 1.4% for Apple and 1% for Microsoft, combined with strength in energy driven by higher oil prices, helped indexes extend gains.