Investing.com - Shares in the Asia-Pacific region opened on a mixed note on Wednesday, amid growth in US markets and a decrease in bond yields overnight. This comes in the wake of comments from US Federal Open Market Committee Chair Powell, indicating signs of the US economy resuming its disinflationary trend.
By 11:00 am AEST (1:00 am GMT), the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2%, the KOSPI 200 eased 0.1% and the Nikkei 225 rose by 0.5%.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a 0.4% increase, while the S&P 500 added 0.6% and the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.8%.
Meanwhile, the JOLTS job openings survey revealed 8.14 million job openings in May, surpassing the 8.05 million from the previous month and exceeding the forecast of 7.94 million.
In commodity markets, Brent crude oil dropped by 0.4% to US$86.24 a barrel, while gold increased by 0.1% to US$2,331.14. US government bond yields initially increased but later moderated, with the US 10-year Treasury yield falling 4 points to 4.44% and the US 2-year Treasury yield decreasing 4 points to 4.75%.
Locally, investors are anticipating retail sales and building approvals data for May, expecting increases of 0.3% and 2% respectively. The Reserve Bank of Australia emphasised the significance of upcoming data in determining an August rate hike in the minutes of its June Board Meeting.
In other regional markets, Chinese shares closed mixed, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.1% and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropping 0.6%. Hong Kong shares also closed mixed, while Japanese stocks ended higher with the Nikkei Stock Average rising 1.1%. Indian shares remained flat.
European markets retreated on Tuesday in anticipation of the upcoming UK General Election and the second round of French Parliamentary elections. The annual inflation rate in the Euro Area moderated to 2.5% in June, as expected. The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.2%, and the UK FTSE 100 index dropped 0.6%.
Currencies generally strengthened against the US dollar, with the Euro, Aussie dollar, and Japanese yen all experiencing gains.