Asia-Pacific markets were trading mixed on Wednesday after banking fears were reignited on Wall Street.
Shares of First Republic Bank tumbled more than 49% after the regional bank posted its latest quarterly results, saying late Monday that deposits dropped 40% to $104.5 billion in the first quarter but have since stabilized.
Investors were also watching Australia’s inflation numbers for the first quarter of 2023, which slowed to 7% year-on-year, down from a 23-year high of 7.8% the previous quarter. The S&P/ASX 200 was down marginally to close at 7,316.3.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.71% to end the day at 28,416.47 , and the Topix dropped 0.89% to finish at 2,023.9.
South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.17% to close at 2,484.83, while the Kosdaq closed 0.99% down at 830.44, after the country’s consumer sentiment index for April rose to 95.1, compared to 92 in March.
Mainland Chinese markets ended mixed, with the Shenzhen Component up 0.33% to finish at 11,185.68 and the Shanghai Composite closing 0.02% lower at 3,264.1 .
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.7% up, while the Hang Seng Tech index rose 1.32%.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.02%, while the S&P 500 finished 1.58% lower. The Nasdaq Composite saw the largest loss as it dropped 1.98%.
This article was originally published by CNBC.
