Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday after the Trump administration unveiled its first budget proposal as a ‘taxpayer first’ plan that makes deep cuts to a number of programs while rising spending on border security and defense. A surge in US Treasury yields helped the dollar rebound from 6-1/2-month lows against its major peers, while oil prices rose for a fifth straight session ahead of OPEC's key meeting Thursday. The world's major oil countries are likely to extend production cuts for another nine months after Iraq backed an extension. Meanwhile, the FOMC minutes for the May 2-3 FOMC meeting are due later in the day, with investors looking for signs whether the Fed will lift rates in June. Chinese shares rose in the final minutes of trading, erasing losses spurred by Moody’s Investors Service cutting China’s debt rating and negative comments from MSCI Inc. on the nation’s stock market. Further, Japanese shares rose notably to hit a one-week high as the yen's fall against the dollar lifted export-oriented shares and banking stocks also benefited from a rise in US Treasury yields.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,064.08 | 2.13 | 0.07 |
Hang Seng | 25,428.50 | 25.35 | 0.10 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,703.43 | -27.18 | -0.47 |
KLSE Composite | 1,771.01 | 3.84 | 0.22 |
Nikkei 225 | 19,742.98 | 129.70 | 0.66 |
Straits Times | 3,231.24 | 8.55 | 0.27 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,317.34 | 5.60 | 0.24 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,044.42 | 36.58 | 0.37 |