Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Wednesday following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell tempered rate cut hopes. In a closely watched speech, Powell acknowledged that crosscurrents have re-emerged since the Fed's May meeting, but did not appear to signal the imminent interest rate cut currently being priced in by the markets.
The Australian market is declining, with stocks mostly lower across the board, following the negative cues from Wall Street.
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June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.