Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street. Traders are refraining from making significant moves as they await the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy and its latest economic projections later in the day. Traders are also in a cautious mood as coronavirus cases remain high in most markets in the region. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.
The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains of the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 just below the 7,400 level near all-time highs, as strength in energy and financial stocks are offsetting weakness in big miners and technology stocks. Traders are optimistic after the June minutes from the RBA showed that policymakers believe the economy is expanding more rapidly than previously anticipated. On the COVID-19 front, there have been five new locally acquired and three new overseas acquired COVID-19 cases reported in the state of Victoria, with the active cases in the state totalling 55.
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Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.