Investing.com - Shares in China edged higher on Wednesday as a powerful state agency called for easier monetary policy.
Chinese bonds and stocks rose Wednesday morning after the National Development and Reform Commission, the powerful economic planner, called for interest rate and deposit reserve ratio cuts. The NDRC doesn't set China's monetary policy, but with interest rate and deposit reserve ratio adjustments made by the State Council, the body is part of the discussion.
The Shanghai Composite gained 0.08%. Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.86% as aggressive stimulus steps in Japan drew amixed response with eyes on the central bank after a new fiscal plan was unveiled this week.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.05%, despite the AIG services index in Australia for July jumping to 53.9, up from 51.3. AI Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said that as long as lower rates are passed on by banks, the decision by the Reserve Bank to reduce the cash rate Tuesday should provide a boost to business and consumer demand in services sub-sectors that are currently lagging.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, suffering their worst one-day session in a month, as crude futures tumbled to fresh 14-month lows and investors largely shrugged off a major stimulus package approved hours earlier by the Japanese government, placing downward pressure on equities on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 90.74 or 0.49% to 18,313.77, closing lower for the seventh consecutive session. At session-lows, the Dow fell as much as 153 points. Since hitting an all-time record high of 18,622.01 on July 22, the Dow has fallen back by more than 300 points over the last week and a half. Nevertheless, the Dow is still up by more than 1,100 points from its lows five weeks ago in the immediate aftermath of the surprising Brexit decision on June 24.
The NASDAQ Composite index fell by 46.47 or 0.90% to 5,137.73, snapping a five-day winning streak, while the S&P 500 Composite index dropped by 13.81 or 0.64% to 2,157.03. On the S&P 500, all 10 sectors closed in the red, as stocks in the Consumer Services, Financials and Technology industries lagged.