On Wednesday, stocks in Asia-Pacific suffered losses as Japan’s exports growth fell to the lowest point in eight months. On Tuesday, retail sales data helped boost U.S. stocks.
South Korea, as well as Australia, led losses in the region. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped nearly 1%. Financial stocks declined on Wednesday. Shares of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell more than 8%.
In South Korea, Kospi fell 1% as well.
The news that came from New Zealand may help to boost sentiment. New Zealand’s Prime Minister announced that New Zealand’s largest city Auckland will reopen its domestic borders starting December 15. The country is ready to welcome fully vaccinated people and those with negative Covid test results.
On Wednesday, mainland Chinese stocks bucked the regional trend. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.2%, while the Shenzhen component advanced 0.43%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.46%.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.38% in Japan after trading in positive territory earlier, while the Topix fell 0.53%. Exports in Japan rose 9.4% in October, according to the data provided by the country’s finance ministry. That followed a 13% expansion one month earlier and was the weakest growth since a drop in February. Auto shipments dropped 36%.
Shares of Japanese automakers declined on Wednesday. Nissan dropped 1.78%, Honda fell 1.54%, and Mitsubishi Motor dropped 1.25%.
U.S. stocks and October retail sales report
U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday thanks to a strong October retail sales report. Better-than-expected results from Home Depot and Walmart also helped to boost stocks. Great results from the companies mentioned above signaled that consumers are willing to spend more money despite the current situation.
In the case of Home Depot, net income for the fiscal third quarter rose to $4.13 billion.
Home Depot also said fiscal fourth-quarter sales were already tracking higher than last quarter, pointing to a possible strong year-end finish.
Walmart reported third-quarter per-share share earnings and revenue that surpassed expectations, and U.S. same-store sales jumped 9.2%.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 54.77 points or 0.15% to 36,142.22. The S&P 500 gained 0.39% to 4,700.90. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.76% to 15,973.86.
Retail sales report showed consumers were increasing their spending, with sales jumping 1.7%. Retail sales report for October also showed broad strength in several categories from autos to sporting goods. Online sales jumped 10.2% from a year ago.
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