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Asian shares weaker on caution of March Fed rate hike

Published 02/23/2017, 12:53 AM
Updated 02/23/2017, 12:55 AM
© Reuters.  Asian shares down

© Reuters. Asian shares down

Investing.com - Asian shares trended weaker on Thursday with sentiment down slightly on caution the Fed could hike rates as soon as next month.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 traded down 0.27%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was off by 0.46% and the Shanghai composite fell 0.39%.

In Japan, Nissan announced it was appointing its co-CEO, Hiroto Saikawa, to be the chief executive officer as of April 1. Carlos Ghosn, who is chairman of the board and current CEO, will continue to serve as chairman and will seek a renewal of mandate at Nissan's general shareholders meeting in June. Nissan shares slipped 0.85%.

Australia's ASX 200 fell 0.27% in afternoon trade, with gains in most sectors offset by a nearly 2 percent drop in the materials sector.

Airline Qantas reported first-half underlying profit before tax fell 7.5% year- on-year to A$852 million in the six months ended Dec. 31, 2016, but was above the guidance range provided in October. Qantas shares were up 5.07%.

Overnight, U.S. equities closed mixed, after minutes released from the Federal Reserve’s previous meeting signalled that an interest rate hike is coming “fairly soon”.

U.S. equities dipped into negative territory, after the Fed minutes were released, and couldn't mount a meaningful recovery as a slump in the energy sector capped upside momentum.

The so-called ‘Trump rally’ – the rise in U.S. equities brought on by the promise of fiscal expansion and a reduction of corporate taxes from President Donald Trump – has been a major catalyst for the major U.S. indexes, which continue to trade near record highs.

On the economic data front, U.S. home resales surged to a 10-year in January, as buyers shrugged off an increase in home prices and mortgage rates.

On Wednesday, The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales jumped 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million units last month – the highest level since February 2007.

In corporate earnings news Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:TSLA) shares traded more than 1% higher in after-hours trade, despite posting a loss per share of 69 cents compared to Wall Street estimates' of a 42 cents loss.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 31 points at 20,774.65 The S&P 500 shed 0.11% and the Nasdaq Composite ticked lower to close at 5,860 down 0.09%.

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