Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Wednesday, with the weak cues from Wall Street and the decline in crude oil prices denting investor sentiment. Meanwhile, soft inflation data from China added to concerns about the world's second-largest economy.
Consumer prices in China were up 1.6 percent on year in September, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was shy of forecasts for an increase of 1.8 percent and down from 2.0 percent in August.
The bureau also said that producer prices fell 5.9 percent on year - in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous month.
The Australian market opened lower for a third straight session, tracking the weak cues overnight from Wall Street and lower commodity prices. Banks and oil stocks are among the leading decliners.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index is declining 26.50 points or 0.51 percent to 5,176.40, off a low of 5,164.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 25.30 points or 0.48 percent to 5,209.30.
In the mining sector, BHP Billiton (BHP) is declining more than 1 percent, Rio Tinto (RIO) is losing 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is lower by more than 2 percent.
Meanwhile, gold miner Newcrest Mining is adding 0.5 percent and Kingsgate Consolidated is up more than 2 percent after gold prices edged higher overnight.
In the oil space, Santos is losing more than 7 percent, Woodside Petroleum is down more than 2 percent and Oil Search is lower by almost 2 percent.
The big banks are also lower. ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are down in a range of 0.2 percent to almost 1 percent.
Westpac's shares are in a trading halt as it will announce a A$3.5 billion rights entitlement offering to strengthen its capital reserves. The bank also reported a 3 percent increase in cash earnings for 2015 and said it will raise it variable mortgage rates by 0.20 percentage points.
Meanwhile, shares of infant goods retailer Baby Bunting Group are surging 40 percent on its debut on the stock market.
Shares of Domino's Pizza Enterprises are gaining more than 5 percent after the company said it is expanding its European operations by acquiring 89 Pizza Sprint stores in France for A$54.9 million.
Treasury Wine Estates said it is buying most of the US and UK-based wine operations of drinks giant Diageo for $600 million. The wine producer's shares are in a trading halt.
On the economic front, the latest survey from Westpac Bank showed that consumer confidence in Australia advanced in October, rising 4.2 percent to a score of 97.8. That follows the 5.6 percent decline in September to a reading of 93.9. The index remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 100 that separates optimism from pessimism.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar, weighed down by weaker commodity prices and weak Chinese trade data. In late-morning trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7220, down from Tuesday's close of US$0.7311.
The Japanese market is notably lower, following the negative lead overnight from Wall Street as well as the decline in crude oil prices. In addition, the stronger yen weighed on exporters' stocks.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 331.08 points or 1.8 percent to 17,903.66, off a low of 17,853.19 earlier. Iron and steel, machinery and mining stocks are among the notable losers.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing almost 4 percent, Sony (SNE) is declining more than 2 percent, and Toshiba as well as Canon are down 1.6 percent each. Meanwhile, shares of Sharp Corp are adding more than 1 percent.
Market heavyweight Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent, while SoftBank is lower by 0.6 percent.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) is declining 3 percent, Mizuho Financial Group (MFG) is losing almost 2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down almost 3 percent.
Among automakers, Toyota (TM) is down almost 2 percent and Honda (HMC) is lower by 2.6 percent.
In the energy sector, Inpex is losing more than 3 percent and JX Holdings is down more than 2 percent following the decline in crude oil prices overnight.
Construction equipment maker Komatsu, which has heavy exposure to China, is lower by 4 percent.
Shares of Nikon Corp. are lower by more than 5 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company's operating profit for the first half of the year likely declined 27 percent from the prior-year period.
On the economic front, the Conference Board said that the leading economic index in Japan was up 0.2 percent in August, following the 0.1 percent decline in July. The coincident index was down 0.1 percent, unchanged from the previous month.
The Bank of Japan said that producer prices in Japan were down 0.5 percent on month in September, missing forecasts for a decline of 0.4 percent following the 0.6 percent contraction in August.
The Bank of Japan also said that the M2 money stock in Japan was up 3.8 percent on year in September, coming in at 910.5 trillion yen. That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 4.3 percent, and down from 4.2 percent in August.
The M3 money stock added 3.1 percent to 1,227.2 trillion yen, versus expectations for a gain of 3.5 percent and down from 3.4 percent in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid 119 yen-range on Wednesday, down from Tuesday's close in the upper 119 yen-range in Tokyo.
Elsewhere in the Asian region, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan are down with modest losses. New Zealand and Singapore are marginally higher. The markets in Malaysia and Indonesia are closed on Wednesday for the Islamic New Year.
On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility on Tuesday before ending the session firmly in the red. Uncertainty about the outlook for corporate results likely contributed to the lower close on Wall Street, with earnings season set to pick up steam.
While the Dow dipped 49.97 points or 0.3 percent to 17,081.89, the Nasdaq slid 42.03 points or 0.9 percent to 4,796.61 and the S&P 500 slumped 13.77 points or 0.7 percent to 2,003.69.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.9 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices fell for a second day Tuesday amid concerns about rising global supplies. WTI crude for November delivery fell 44 cents or 0.9 percent to settle at $46.66 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com