SYDNEY, NSW, Australia-stocks across Asia lost ground on Wednesday, although the New Zealand market defied the regional trend by notching up solid gains.
As with the sentiment in other global markets, traders across Asia blamed fear of a coming recession to rationalise the selling.
Hugh Gimber, Global Market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, told Reuters that the market moves have been classic recessionary pricing over the past couple of days. The risks are becoming more aware of by investors. After the day of historic gains, the U.S. dollar was steady.
The Hang Seng fell by 266.41 points or 1.22 percent in Hong Kong to close Wednesday at 21,586. The Kospi Composite, located in Seoul, South Korea, lost 49.77 points or 2.13 percent to 2,292. The S&P NZX 50 in New Zealand advanced 175.90 points or 1.60 percent to 11,141, going against the trend. After a tumultuous fall overnight, the euro was left licking its wounds on foreign exchange markets. The EU unit was trading at 1.0244 around the Sydney close.
The Japanese yen was strengthened to 135.12. The Swiss franc was unchanged at 0.9690.
The Canadian dollar fell to 1.3041. The New Zealand dollar had few bidders last trading at 0.6173.
The Dow Jones finished the day with a 129.44 points or 0.42 percent loss on 30,967 overnight on Wall Street. After being down as much as 700 points earlier, 82 was at 82.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 194.39 points or 1.75 percent to 11,322. The Standard and Poor's 500 edged up 6.06 points or 0.16 percent to 3,831.