Tokyo: Asian shares traded mixed on Thursday as pessimism spread among investors about any imminent interest rate cut in the United States. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei added 0.5 per cent in morning trading to 35,637.01. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5 per cent to 7,357.40. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 per cent to 2,450.00. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped nearly 0.2 per cent to 15,251.64, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 2.3 per cent to 2,768.90. Wall Street slipped following another signal that it may have gotten too optimistic about when the Federal Reserve will deliver the cuts to interest rates.
The S&P 500 fell 26.77 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 4,739.21. It’s the second-straight stumble for the index after it closed out its 10th winning week in the last 11 near its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 94.45, or 0.3 per cent, to 37,266.67, and the Nasdaq composite slumped 88.73, or 0.6 per cent, to 14,855.62.
