Asian stock markets exhibited a mixed performance on Wednesday, mirroring a cautious overnight session on Wall Street as investors focused on forthcoming macroeconomic data releases and impending geopolitical discussions. Meanwhile, U.S. equity futures exhibited minimal movement, with the Nasdaq remaining unchanged, the S&P 500 increasing by 0.05%, and Dow futures rising by 0.07%. In commodity markets, crude oil declined toward $89 per barrel, while gold decreased below $4,350 an ounce. Digital assets sustained critical thresholds. South Korea’s KOSPI increased by 0.46% to roughly 7,050, marking its fourth consecutive session of gains as the South Korean won appreciated to about 1,351 per dollar.
Market sentiment received a boost as the Asian Development Bank revised South Korea’s 2026 growth forecast upward to 3.2% from 2.6%. This adjustment was attributed to strong export demand, solid corporate earnings, and an expansionary fiscal policy, even in the face of persistent risks stemming from global trade tensions and financial volatility. Japan’s Nikkei 225 markets were closed for a holiday. China’s market fell 0.34% to 3,944, while the Shenzhen Component slipped 0.4% to 13,673, as investors remained cautious ahead of the highly anticipated Trump-Xi summit. The offshore yuan depreciated to approximately 6.70 per dollar in anticipation of Xi’s inaugural U.S. visit since 2015.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan are set to be received by President Trump on Wednesday evening, signifying Xi’s inaugural visit to the United States since 2015. Hong Kong experienced a decline of 1.06%, settling at 24,873, thereby reversing a modest gain observed in the prior session. India rose 0.47% to 74,688, recovering from the previous session’s losses. Preliminary estimates indicated that the HSBC India Manufacturing PMI rose to 55.7 in September, up from 52.8 in August, reflecting the sector’s most rapid rate of improvement since February. The Indian rupee maintained its position at approximately 95.6 against the U.S. dollar.
Australia’s shares remained unchanged, showing a slight increase of 0.04% to 8,775 on Wednesday morning, building on previous gains. In currency markets, the Australian dollar was positioned close to $0.71. The S&P Global Australia Manufacturing PMI decreased to 49.3 in September, down from 52.0 in August. In contrast, the S&P Global Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index decreased to 51.4 in September from 53.2 in August.
