In today’s trading session, Asian markets experienced fluctuations as the recent surge lost momentum due to a lack of major catalysts, prompting investors to ponder over the prospects of monetary policy. 

While Europe had a robust session, Wall Street showed a bit more restraint following a surge triggered by Friday’s lower-than-expected US employment figures, which intensified expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate reduction. 

Hong Kong resumed its upward trajectory after closing marginally lower on Tuesday, breaking a 10-day winning streak. The Hang Seng Index retreated by 0.4% to 18,410.20 during the local noon trading break, after initially rising by as much as 0.7% earlier in the day. Concurrently, the tech index experienced a 0.6% decline, and the Shanghai Composite index dropped by 0.4%.

Alibaba, a leading e-commerce group, saw a 1.2% decline to HK$77.15, while the food delivery platform Meituan experienced a 1.1% loss, closing at HK$114.20. Tencent also weakened by 0.9% closing at HK$11.40, and New World Developments slipped by 2.7% to HK$8.67, emerging as the top losers. 

Meanwhile, Japanese stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with declines in the Transport, Marine Transport, and Warehousing sectors contributing to the overall downturn. The Nikkei 225 went down by 1.6%, closing at 38,202.37.

Nikkei’s best performers in today’s session were Yokogawa Electric Corp., Nippon Yusen K.K, and Alps Electric Co., Ltd. While AGC Inc, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., and Ricoh Co. Ltd were the worst performers.

South Korea’s Kospi ended the trading session at 2,745.05 points, marking an increase of 0.39% closing at 2,745.05. Australia’s S&P/ASX200 went up by 0.1% higher to 7,804.50.