Asian stock markets mixed on US interest rate worries – Wel.nl

TOKYO (AP) — Asian stock markets showed a mixed picture on Wednesday. Investors remained cautious on the prospect of further rate hikes in the US following statements from two central bank officials. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said he expects another rate hike of a quarter percentage point, while his counterpart at the Federal Reserve in St. Louis believes rates should be raised by half a percentage point. In May, the US Federal Reserve will announce a new interest rate decision.

Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.3 percent in late trading as investors took some profits after the Japanese stock market’s recent strong multi-day winning streak. Japanese computer games maker Nintendo and car maker Toyota were among the decliners of about 0.7 percent. Big tech investor SoftBank (minus 0.6 percent) also lost ground. Chip tester Advantest led the pack with a gain of more than 1 percent.

Chinese stock markets also fell slightly. After a lackluster trading session on Wall Street, Shanghai’s main index fell 0.2 percent and Hong Kong’s Hong Kong index lost 0.5 percent. Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba fell 0.7 percent and Chinese Internet and game giant Tencent lost 1.1 percent. Economists at major banks JP Morgan, Citi and UBS have raised their growth expectations for the Chinese economy this year after strong growth numbers in the first quarter.

Stock markets in South Korea and Australia were marginally higher. All Ordinaries in Sydney rose a fraction and the Kospi in Seoul gained 0.4 percent.