Asia-Pacific stock moves were muted Wednesday after most overseas benchmarks saw little change the previous day.
Most markets in the region were closed Tuesday for the Labor Day holiday, and Japan will be closed Thursday and Friday.
Investors on Wednesday are awaiting cues from U.S.-China trade negotiations, along with the release of both a raft of April manufacturing data from Asia and the Federal Reserve’s latest policy statement. It isn’t expected to include another rate hike — that’s expected at June’s meeting.
Singapore stocks were an upside outlier, with the Straits Times Index STI, +0.04% climbing less than 0.1% as equities there are supported by upbeat earnings news. The city-state’s biggest bank, DBS Group Holdings Ltd. D05, -0.75% , climbed 0.7% Wednesday to move deeper into record territory following Monday’s first-quarter report. The index is at levels last seen in late 2007, when it set a record high of 5%.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -0.16% slipped 0.2% and South Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.39% edged down 0.3%.
Notable individual movers include Samsung BioLogics 207940, -17.21% , which tumbled as much as 20% after South Korea’s financial watchdog accused the company of accounting-rules violations. It denies the allegation. It closed down 17%.
Some Apple AAPL, +4.44% suppliers in Asia also rallied following the company’s second-quarter report, which sent the stock up 3.7% in U.S. after-hours trading. Japanese sensor maker Alps Electric 6770, +2.71% climbed 2.7%, and smartphone-lens maker Largan 3008, +6.32% jumped 6% in Taiwan.
A strengthening U.S. dollar should generally buoy Asian equities — with their valuation making them look more attractive than the rest of the world — said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
The WSJ Dollar Index in April had its best month since December 2016, and set a 2018 best on Tuesday.
Oil futures rose slightly in Asian trading, after Tuesday’s 2% pullback with the help of further gains in the dollar. The U.S. benchmark was recently up 0.2%.