Buildings in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, September 13, 2022. Photographer: Fiona Goodall/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Asia-Pacific markets opened weaker on Wednesday, with investors cautious as ongoing discussions over the U.S. debt ceiling appeared to be making little progress.
“The president and I know the deadline, so I think we’ll talk about it every day … until we get this job done,” said U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy say monday.
in Japan, Nikkei 225 Index The Topix shed 0.35% in early trade, despite a Reuters Tankan poll showing business sentiment among the country’s manufacturers turned positive for the first time in 2023.
Korean Cosby It fell 0.2 percent and the Kosdaq lost 0.34 percent. In Australia, S&P/ASX 200 It was down 0.3 percent in early trade.
Hong Kong’s hang seng index Looking set to extend its decline from a two-month low, futures were at 19,285, while the Hang Seng closed at 19,431.25.
Investors today will focus on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s benchmark policy rate, which economists polled by Reuters expect to raise by 25 basis points to 5.5 percent.
New Zealand is also due to release first-quarter retail sales data on Wednesday.
Overnight, the three major U.S. stock indexes all fell, Nasdaq Composite Index Led by 1.26%, while S&P 500 Index down 1.12%, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.69%.
— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Alex Harring contributed to this report