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Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as investors got jittery over global risks after Poland said a Russian-made missile killed two people there.
Benchmarks fell in morning trading in Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul and Hong Kong, while shares were little changed in Shanghai.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy decried the blast as a very significant escalation of the war. Details were unclear, including who fired the missile. The Polish government said it was investigating. President Joe Biden, in Indonesia for the Group of 20 summit, promised full U.S support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% in morning trading to 27,924.63. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3% to 7,121.60. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.3% to 2,472.97. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell nearly 0.2% to 18,308.00, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 3,135.88.
Asian equities were defensive on Wednesday, with geopolitical tensions driving price action, said Anderson Alves at ActivTrades.
Traders are waiting for further developments on the geopolitical front for direction for risk assets. Any signal of escalation in the volatile situation could see a reaction across markets, he said.
On Wall Street, stocks finished higher following more signs the nation’s punishingly high inflation may be falling off faster than expected. Stocks momentarily fell on the missile reports, but rebounded.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%, or 34.48 points, to 3,991.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average veered from a gain to a loss, before closing at 33,592.
