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© Reuters. Man walks past an electronic trading scoreboard in front of a Tokyo brokerage
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian stocks fell from their six-month highs on Wednesday as investors take profits ahead of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision, which should shed light on its interest rate plans for the rest of the year.
The MSCI's largest share of Asia-Pacific shares out of Japan fell 0.4%, mainly in Australia and South Korea.
Japan changed little as mainland China's shares fell by 0.5%.
Wall Street shares were closely mixed on Tuesday, with a loss of 0.01% and 0.12% for the Nasdaq. ()
Some market participants have said the sale was triggered by a report stating US concerns that China was opposed to US demands in trade negotiations.
Nevertheless, on the whole, many market participants have hoped for a trade agreement between Washington and Beijing, with representatives of both parties remaining stuck in the negotiations.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin plan to travel to China next week to participate in a new round of trade talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, said Tuesday. Trump administration manager.
"China is eager to reach an agreement, so I'm not too worried, as long as they're going to have meetings, a lot of things are going to work out," said Wang Shenshen, research center strategist. Tokai Tokyo.
Asian business confidence remained near the lows in three years in the first quarter, as the trade dispute between China and China has continued, leading to an already declining economy, according to a Thomson Reuters survey / INSEAD.[ASIATOPCO/]
The companies surveyed cited the world trade war as the main business risk, followed by rising interest rates and the slowdown in the Chinese economy.
The Fed is generally expected to maintain its rates unchanged later in the day, focusing primarily on the rate forecasts of its policymakers for the coming years.
Since the beginning of the year, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said that the central bank would be patient – interpreting the code as a drag on rising rates – in the face of signs of slowing economic growth in the near future. United States and in many parts of the world.
Financial markets have gone even further by providing for a rate cut this year. Futures on federal funds announce about 30% chance of a reduction by the end of the year.
The Fed should also put in place a plan to stop cutting its balance sheet by $ 4 trillion, or so-called quantitative tightening. Many policymakers have suggested to the Fed to close the process and stabilize its holdings of bonds by the end of the year.
"I think the market consensus is around the end of September, but we expect the Fed to end its balance sheet in June at about 3.85 billion yen, based on our calculations of the amount of reserves needed surplus, "Shuji Shirota said. , head of macroeconomic strategy at HSBC Securities in Tokyo.
The expectations of a more conservative Fed weighed on the US dollar, which was already under pressure this year after Powell almost announced a pause in the tightening cycle at the previous meeting.
The dollar index versus a basket of six major currencies hit Tuesday its lowest level in two and a half weeks, at 96,288, and stood at 96,465.
The euro has barely evolved to 1.1354 dollar, near the high of 1.1362 dollar reached for two weeks on Tuesday.
The dollar reached 111.61 yen, up slightly that day, but below Friday's peak of 111.90, the highest in nine days.
The Australian dollar plunged 0.2% to 0.7071 dollars, while the country's bond yields have continued their vertiginous fall to levels never reached by the decline in interest rate cuts in Australia.
The 6% drop in iron ore prices in China, expected by an increase in supply, did not help the company. Vale SA is expected to resume work on its largest iron mine in the state of Minas Gerais.
The pound sterling remained the hostage of the Brexit headlines.
Prime Minister Theresa May should ask the European Union to delay Brexit for at least three months after its plan to hold a third vote on its agreement was overturned by a surprise intervention by the president of the parliament.
May had already warned Parliament that, if it did not ratify its agreement, it would ask to delay Brexit beyond June 30, a step that Brexit defenders fear for his life does not endanger the divorce.
On the other hand, the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said that an extension would only make sense if it increased the chances that May's agreement would be ratified by the British House of Commons.
The last pound remained stable at $ 1.3265, after peaking at $ 1.3380 a week ago.
Oil prices have maintained their highest level for almost four months, while OPEC expected production cuts to continue until the end of the year. and that after data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) revealed an unexpected reduction in crude inventories.
Futures contracts in the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) market remained unchanged at $ 59.02 per barrel after hitting their highest level since November at $ 59.57 on Tuesday.
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