Asian markets settled lower on Wednesday, despite Wall Street’s record-high gains overnight. Market sentiment weakened as Brent crude oil climbed above $101 per barrel after Yemen's Houthi group claimed that it had carried out a series of drone and ballistic missile attacks targeting airports and military installations in Saudi Arabia. Investors were cautious over rising US Treasury yields ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes later in the day. Japanese market declined, led by fall in AI-related stocks as investors moved to lock in profits after the benchmark index rallied to a three-month high. Moreover, South Korea’s Kospi index dropped as market turned cautious ahead of Samsung Electronics’ preliminary third-quarter earnings report on Thursday. Meanwhile, Chinese market remained closed for the National Day Golden Week holiday and are scheduled to reopen on October 8, 2026.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | -- | -- | -- |
Hang Seng | 24,130.50 | -150.06 | -0.62 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,146.72 | -46.21 | -0.75 |
KLSE Composite | 1,611.78 | -21.57 | -1.32 |
Nikkei 225 | 70,035.71 | -648.27 | -0.92 |
Straits Times | 5,608.44 | -93.10 | -1.63 |
KOSPI Composite | 6,803.90 | -137.49 | -1.98 |
Taiwan Weighted | 49,806.37 | -16.18 | -0.03 |
