Asian stocks fell broadly on Wednesday after China's third plenum meeting failed to outline steps to curb state dominance of the economy, saying markets would play a "decisive" role in allocating resources. Weak data on Japanese core machine orders and renewed concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start reducing its bond-buying program in the foreseeable future also kept investors on the sidelines ahead of Fed deputy chief Janet Yellen's testimony to the US Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
China's Shanghai Composite index ended down 1.8 percent at 2,088 after the vaguely-worded communique issued at the end of a four-day meeting of party leaders pledged to build an open and unified market with orderly competition before letting the market decide the allocation of resources. While outlining a number of key economic reforms for the next decade, the Communist Party of China said China will relax investment restrictions and accelerate construction of free trade zones.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 1.9 percent to 22,464 in response to the lack of details in the reform plans announced by China's leaders yesterday.
Tokyo stocks fell modestly on profit taking, with the yen's recent depreciation capping losses. The benchmark Nikkei edged down 0.2 percent to 14,567, while the broader Topix index finished 0.1 percent lower at 1,204. Citizen Holdings dropped 1.7 percent on profit taking, East Japan Railway declined 2 percent and Hitachi shares shed 2.1 percent. Dentsu, Fast Retailing, Fuji Heavy Industries, Sony and Mazda Motors rose 1-3 percent. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 1.6 percent after the lender raised its full-year earnings forecast by 29 percent.
In economic news, core machine orders in Japan contracted a seasonally adjusted 2.1 percent in September from the previous month, the Cabinet Office said - coming in at 802.1 billion yen. The headline figure missed forecasts for a decline of 1.8 percent following the 5.4 percent increase in August. On an annual basis, core machine orders climbed 11.5 percent - also shy of expectations for a 12.5 percent increase.
Japan's economy continues to recover moderately but downside risks to recovery are slightly larger than upside risks, Bank of Japan Board Member Ryuzo Miyao said today. "I'm somewhat more mindful of downside risks due to structural problems in emerging economies and lingering U.S. fiscal problems," he told business leaders in Matsumoto, central Japan.
Australian shares fell sharply as investors liquidated their existing holdings to invest in new share issues, including a $600 million offering from media conglomerate Nine Entertainment. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.4 percent to 5,319, its biggest loss in six weeks. Banks fell across the board, with ANZ, Westpac, NAB and Commonwealth all falling over 2 percent each.
Global miner BHP Billiton lost a percent and Rio Tinto edged down marginally, while smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group rallied 2.9 percent after announcing plans to improve its debt profile. CSR shares soared 8.3 percent after the building products maker more than doubled its first-half profit.
In economic releases, a measure of consumer confidence in Australia rebounded this month on the back of low interest rates and rising home prices. The headline index from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute climbed 1.9 percent following the 2.1 percent decline in October. The survey's reading of economic conditions over the next 12 months rose 0.4 percent, while conditions over the next five years rose 0.5 percent.
Seoul shares tumbled on Fed tapering worries ahead of speeches by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Vice Chair Janet Yellen on Thursday. The Kospi average fell 1.6 percent to 1.964, its lowest level since September 6. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics dropped 2.5 percent.
South Korea's unemployment rate remained stable at seasonally adjusted 3 percent in October despite an increase in job creation, data from Statistics Korea showed, matching economists' expectations. On an unadjusted basis, the jobless rate rose marginally to 2.8 percent from 2.7 percent a month ago.
New Zealand shares ended little changed, with the benchmark NZX-50 closing up 3 points at 4,919. Fletcher Building rose 2.4 percent, benefiting from Christchurch rebuild and Mainfreight advanced 2.1 percent after reporting a 51 percent increase in first-half profit yesterday, while Chorus shares dropped 2 percent.
On the economic front, the rising imbalances in New Zealand's housing market were the main threat to the country's financial system, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler said while releasing the latest financial stability report. High levels of debt in the household sector relative to both historical and international norms increase the risk of a future house price correction that could result in significant financial system stress, he said.
Elsewhere, India's Sensex was down 0.4 percent, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite was losing 1.5 percent, Malaysia's KLSE fell 0.7 percent, Singapore's Straits Times was declining 0.4 percent and the Taiwan Weighted average dropped 1.1 percent.
U.S. stocks ended another lackluster session mostly lower overnight as investors digested some disappointing company earnings and weighed conflicting comments from Federal Reserve officials about the outlook for monetary policy. The Dow and the S&P 500 slipped around 0.2 percent each, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed just above the unchanged line.
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April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.