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(AWP Alliance News) - Stocks in Sydney and across the Asia Pacific region were trading lower on Wednesday as crude prices stay elevated and US bond yields climb. The S&P/ASX 200 was down 93.30 points, 1.1%, at 8,511.40 on Wednesday afternoon. Shares in miners fell with Newmont down 4.7%, Rio Tinto down 2.1% and BHP 1.9% lower. Brambles fell 4.0%. SGH gained 2.4%, ResMed rose 1.8%, and Computershare was up 1.5%. James Hardie Industries said net income in the financial year ended March 31 declined 75% to USD104.0 million from USD424.0 million a year earlier. However, net sales grew 25% to USD4.84 billion from USD3.88 billion a year earlier. James Hardie Industries edged up 0.4%. Around midday in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 786.43 points, 1.3%, at 59,764.16 on Wednesday. Tokyo Electron was down 4.3%, SoftBank Group fell 4.2%, Fanuc lost 3.8%. Recruit jumped 7.9%, Mizuho Financial grew 5.5%, Fast Retailing rose 4.9%. Itochu fell 2.5%. According to a Bloomberg report, the general trading company will take over the sales operations of medical equipment maker AirLife in Japan. Citing several people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said no capital movement will be involved in the transaction, which could close as soon as early July. Tokio Marine was up 4.2% ahead of the release of its full year results. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 22.60 points, 0.5%, at 4,147.31. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 229.95 points, 0.9%, at 25,567.90. The FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index was down 728.21 points, 1.9%, at 37,209.69. The People's Bank of China decided to leave its key lending rates unchanged for the twelfth month running in May, matching expectations cited by FXStreet. The central bank maintained the one-year loan prime rate at 3.0% and the five-year LPR at 3.5%. In Seoul, the Kospi fell 200.93 points, 2.8%, at 7,070.73. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index was down 37.69 points, 0.7%, at 5,034.65. Samsung Electronics was down 2.7% after the company's labour union announced plans to strike on Thursday, following failed talks over a dispute on bonus payouts. Over in Mumbai, the Nifty 50 closed down 31.95 points, 0.1%, at 23,618.00 on Tuesday. Brent oil was quoted higher at USD111.14 a barrel early in London on Wednesday from USD109.92 around the same time a day earlier. West Texas Intermediate rose to USD104.09 a barrel from USD102.82. Gold was quoted down at USD4,464.70 an ounce against USD4,551.22. The dollar strengthened against the yuan to CNY6.8123 from CNY6.8003 and against the Australian dollar to AUD1.4082 from AUD1.4000. The dollar however weakened against the yen to JPY158.90 from JPY158.97 The euro weakened to USD1.1598 from USD1.1643, and the pound weakened to USD1.3391 from USD1.3415. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.67%, widening from 4.60%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 5.19%, widening from 5.14%. In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.7%, the S&P 500 down 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.8%. IG says futures indicate London's FTSE 100 is to open 0.7% lower on Wednesday, Frankfurt's DAX 40 0.9% lower and the CAC 40 in Paris down 0.6%. Still to come on Wednesday's economic events calendar are export orders and current account figures for Taiwan, and India will report infrastructure output. By Elijah Dale, Alliance News senior reporter Asia-Pacific Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as surging crude oil prices led to a sustained acceleration in the pace of inflation and continued to drive global bond yields higher, increasing the possibility of an interest rate hike in the coming months to combat inflation. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 41.9 percent chance rates will be a quarter point higher following the US Fed's last monetary policy meeting of the year. While concerns of renewed escalation in the Middle East war increased, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that Iran had offered a 14-point resolution draft proposal aimed at ending the war and building trust. The U.S. administration has delayed responding to proposal submitted by Iran while uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz continues to linger. Australian shares are trading notably lower on Wednesday, reversing some of the sharp gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling well below the 8,550 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in mining and financial stocks partially offset by gains in technology and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 73.20 points or 0.85 percent to 8,531.50, after hitting a low of 8,518.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 74.80 points or 0.85 percent to 8,754.70. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday. Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are declining almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue is losing almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is adding 1.5 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent, while Zip is gaining almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent and Xero is edging up 0.5 percent. Appen is flat. Among the big four banks, National Australia bank and Westpac are losing more than 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is down almost 1 percent and ANZ Banking is edging down 0.3 percent. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining and Newmont are declining more than 3 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is down almost 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining almost 4 percent. In other news, shares in Electro Optic Systems are plunging more than 9 percent after it raised $150 million at $8 per share through an institutional raising. It also revealed a further $40 million strategic placement from defence-focused investors. Shares in Catapult Sports are soaring almost 19 percent after the sports technology company reported upbeat results for the full-year 2026. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.710 on Wednesday. The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous four sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 59,850 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors as global bond yields climbed sharply amid mounting inflation concerns related to the Middle East war. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 59,764.16, down 786.43 points or 1.30 percent, after hitting a low of 59,292.25 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.3 percent and Toyota is adding almost 1 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 3 percent. In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 1 percent. Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is tumbling more than 5 percent, Sony is losing almost 3 percent and Panasonic is declining almost 4 percent, while Canon is edging up 0.1 percent. Among other major losers, OKUMA is tumbling almost 9 percent, Fujikura is sliding almost 6 percent and Sharp is slipping more than 5 percent, while SMC, Taisei and Toto are declining almost 5 percent each. Mitsubishi Materials and Sumitomo Realty & Development are losing more than 4 percent each, while Tokyo Electric Power, Kajima, Shimizu and Sumitomo Chemical are declining almost 4 percent each. Conversely, UBE is skyrocketing almost 19 percent and Ryohin Keikaku is advancing more than 3 percent, while Nitori Holdings and NTN are gaining almost 3 percent each. In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Wednesday. Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are lower by between 0.4 and 0.9 percent each. South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are higher by between 0.3 and 0.7 percent each. On the Wall Street, the major U.S. stock indexes all moved to lower during trading on Tuesday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session. Stocks staged a recovery attempt in early afternoon trading but moved back to the downside going into the end of the day. The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq slid 220.02 points or 0.8 percent to 25,870.71, the S&P 500 fell 49.44 points or 0.7 percent to 7,353.61 and the Dow declined 322.24 points or 0.7 percent to 49,363.88. Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 and the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent. Crude oil prices took a breather on Tuesday following news the U.S. is halting its planned attacks on Iran, although the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was down $0.07 or 0.1 percent at $108.59 per barrel. Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

(AWP Alliance News) - China's central bank on Wednesday kept its key lending rates unchanged in May as expected. The People's Bank of China left its one-year loan prime rate at 3.0% and the five-year LPR at 3.5% for the twelfth straight month, matching the consensus forecast cited by FXStreet. The central bank last revised rates in May last year, when it trimmed the one-year and five-year LPR's by 10 basis points from 3.1% and 3.6%, respectively. By Judy Amaca, Alliance News reporter Asia-Pacific Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.