Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after US stocks ended Tuesday slightly down, led by declines in utilities stocks.

ASX futures were down 0.24% or 19 points as of 8:00am on Wednesday, suggesting a lower open.

US stocks closed lower Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.08% to 39,282.33, the S&P 500 down 0.28% to 5,203.58 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.42% to 16,315.70.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil down up 1.0% to US$85.85 a barrel, while gold was up 0.3% at US$2,178.80.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was up at 3.79% while the 10 Year yield was also up at 4.02%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.59% and the 10 Year yield at 4.23%.

The Australian dollar hit 65.31 US cents down from its previous close of 65.37. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was down at 98.93.

Asia

Chinese shares ended higher, helped by PBOC chairman Pan Gongsheng's comments Monday that the property sector has been showing some "positive signals." Investors are also waiting for key economic data, including February industrial profit data and March PMI later this week. Among major stocks, CATL was up 3.8% and BYD gained 2.5%. Decliners included Sangfor Technologies, which was down 6.3% and Dawning Information Industry, which dropped 5.8%. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2% to 3031.48, the Shenzhen Composite Index was 0.2% higher, while the ChiNext Price Index gained 0.4%.

Hong Kong shares ended higher as sentiment got a slight lift from PBOC remarks on China's property sector. Some property shares rose, with Country Garden up 2.0% and Sunac China adding 1.75%. China Merchants Bank led the gains, rising 4.3% after surprising with a higher dividend. Baidu added 3.7% on news that Apple may use its AI services. Lenovo rose 3.6%, reversing from sharp losses Monday as analysts said they don't expect China's ban on Intel and AMD chips to have a big impact on earnings. Xiaomi gained 3.2% ahead of its first EV launch. Anta Sports climbed 3.15% after 2023 revenue jumped. Among individual decliners, Zhongsheng Group slid 4.9%. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.9% to 16618.32; the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.0%.

The Nikkei Stock Average closed flat at 40398.03 as gains in chip-related shares helped offset losses in railway and bank stocks. Renesas Electronics added 2.3% and Shin-Etsu Chemical climbed 1.5%, while Central Japan Railway fell 1.2% and Resona Holdings declined 1.1%. The broader Topix index rose 0.1% to 2780.80. Investors are focusing on economic data and any comments from Japanese government officials on the yen's recent weakening. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield rose half a basis point to 0.735%.

India's benchmark Sensex is down 0.3% at 72583.35 as falls in industrial and tech stocks offset some gains in financial shares. Power Grid Corp. of India is down 2.7% and Infosys is 0.7% lower while Bajaj Finance is up 1.4% and IndusInd Bank is 0.9% higher. Meanwhile, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone is up 1.5% following the news of the acquisition of Gopalpur Port. Mankind Pharma is down 2.4% following a local media report that major shareholder Beige is likely to sell some shares. Investors are focusing on economic data and any policy-related developments ahead of the country's general elections this spring.

Europe

European shares closed in the green, with the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 ending 0.24% higher at 511.09, the Dax 40 up 0.67% at 18,384.35, and the CAC 40 up 0.41% to 8,184.75

The FTSE 100 index ended 0.17% higher on Tuesday, having gained 13.39 points by market close to finish at 7,930.96 points after a relatively calm trading session. "The prospect of an impending period of monetary easing in Europe has sparked the likes of the DAX and FTSE 100 into life, with European indices enjoying a period of strength that has gradually awoken traders to the relatively affordable valuations offered in the region," Scope Market analyst Joshua Mahony writes in a market comment.

North America

US stocks closed lower Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.08% to 39,282.33, the S&P 500 down 0.28% to 5,203.58 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.42% to 16,315.70.