In Asian Equity Markets indices were little changed on Wednesday’s session, with the widely watched SoftBank Corp falling on its trading debut in Japan. Shares of SoftBank Corp, the mobile unit of conglomerate SoftBank Group, fell as much as 10 percent from its initial public offering price of 1,500 yen ($13.36) when it started trading on the TSE. The company’s 2.65 trillion yen ($23.6 billion) IPO is the largest ever in Japan and the second-largest in the world behind Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO in 2014.
In Currency Markets the British pound rose further away from 20-month lows on Tuesday, helped by a weaker dollar and hopes Prime Minister Theresa May can avoid a no-deal Brexit. May will seek parliamentary approval for her much-criticised Brexit deal in mid-January but faces an uphill battle in convincing lawmakers to back her – she postponed a previous planned vote after allies warned she would lose badly. The pound rose to as high as $1.2706, its strongest since Dec. 10, before settling around $1.2660.
In Commodities Markets U.S. oil prices rose on Wednesday to claw back part of their more than 5 percent losses from the previous session, with worries about oversupply and a slowing global economy keeping markets under pressure. U.S. crude oil had climbed 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $46.24 per barrel, after falling 7.3 percent the day before in a session when it touched its lowest since August last year at $45.79. Global benchmark Brent was up 0.85 percent, or 49 cents, at $56.75 per barrel. It fell 5.62 percent on Tuesday, at one point marking a 14-month low of $56.16 a barrel.
In US Equity Markets the benchmark S&P 500 stock index ended little changed in a choppy trading session on Tuesday as the possibility of a partial U.S. government shutdown raised investor jitters ahead of a highly anticipated meeting of the Federal Reserve. S&P 500 energy stocks led the declines, falling 2.4 percent. Johnson & Johnson shares rose 1.0 percent after a nearly 13 percent decline over two days on a Reuters report that the company knew for decades that its Baby Powder contained asbestos.
In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury prices gained on Tuesday a day before the Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated interest rate decision from its two-day meeting is announced. The Fed is expected to hike interest rates for the fourth time this year as U.S. growth continues to look solid. Benchmark 10-year notes gained 9/32 in price to yield 2.826 percent, after earlier dropping to 2.821 percent, the lowest level since Aug. 27. The yields have fallen from a seven-year high of 3.261 percent on Oct. 9.