Asia markets fall as investors digest private surveys for services activity in Japan, China

Asia-Pacific markets largely fell as investors digest the release of private surveys on services activity from the region.Services activity in Japan and China remained in expansion territory for the month while the pace of growth softened.

 

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.25% to end its session at 33,338.7 and the Topix slid fractionally to 2,306.03. South Korea's Kospi also lost 0.55% to 2,579 while the Kosdaq rose 0.13% to 891.18. Greater China markets were lower, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.6% and the Shenzhen Component lower by 1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.63% while the Hang Seng Tech index also traded 1.87% lower.

 

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.35% to close at 7,253.6 after the Reserve Bank of Australia held rates at 4.1% on Tuesday. U.S. markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday, but U.S. futures were all lower ahead of Wednesday's session. Traders will be watching closely for minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting, after Chairman Jerome Powell said last month to expect more rate hikes ahead.

 

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.11, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures declined 0.9% and 0.17% respectively. — CNBC's Sarah Min contributed to this report. The music industry is set for a radical shift due in part to generative AI, according to Goldman Sachs, which described the new technology as providing "significant opportunities" for the sector.

 

It named five buy-rated stocks to play the trend. All of the stocks are on its conviction list of top stocks. China's service sector activity remained in positive territory for a sixth straight month, according to a Caixin/S&P Global survey released on Wednesday. The Caixin services purchasing managers index for June came in at 53.9, a slower rate of expansion than the 57.1 recorded in May. The survey said "business activity and new orders both expanded at notably slower rates than seen in May, as some firms reported softer than expected market demand." — Lim Hui Jie

 

The Philippines' headline inflation rate slowed for a fifth straight month to 5.4% in June, down from May's figure of 6.1%. This was also lower than the 5.5% expected by economists polled by Reuters. Core inflation, which strips out volatile prices of food and energy items, surged 7.4% year-on-year, slightly lower than the 7.7% recorded in May. — Lim Hui Jie

 

Services activity in Japan remained in expansion territory in June on strong demand conditions in the economy. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell from a record high of 55.9 in May to 54 in June, both well above the 50-mark that separates contraction and growth. "The Japanese services economy signaled that demand conditions remained positive during June," Usamah Bhatti, Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a Wednesday release. Both business activity and new business were among the highest in the series history, Bhatti noted. — Jihye Lee

 

Fast Retailing sank Wednesday touched its lowest since June 12 after Uniqlo reported a 3.4% drop in same store sales in its home Japan market in June from a year earlier. Its Tokyo-listed shares declined by as much as 3% in early trade, before paring losses to trade down 2.75% at about 36,660 yen per share. — Clement Tan

 

The U.S. economy has shifted from a "rolling recession" to a "rolling recovery," according to market veteran Ed Yardeni. Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia," the president of Yardeni Research said he has upgraded his U.S. GDP forecasts for this year and next as one unique factor was softening the impact of rising interest rates on the U.S. economy. — Ganesh Rao

 

Goldman Sachs is positive on a number of Asian markets right now, despite what it expects to be a "subdued" third quarter of the year. The bank screened for global stocks with improving earnings growth momentum, stable earnings per share revisions, and reasonable valuations. May factory order data is set to release Wednesday after the opening.

 

Economists polled by Dow Jones are anticipating a rise of 0.6%, which would be greater than the 0.4% increase the previous month. — Sarah Min

 

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Tuesday night as Wall Street looks to resume a holiday-shortened week. Markets were closed Tuesday for the Fourth of July holiday. They closed early Monday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 31 points or 0.09%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.05% and 0.11%, respectively. — Sarah Min