Stocks in Japan closed lower, as the yen gained ground against the U.S. dollar
Markets in Asia ended the session mostly lower, after Tuesday's Institute for Supply Management (ISM) non-manufacturing index in the U.S.
came in at its lowest level in more than six years. The data has traders lowering expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month, causing the U.S. dollar to weaken against a basket of foreign currencies.
Specifically, a stronger yen weighed on exporters in Japan, sending the Nikkei down 0.4% on the day. Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi each gave up 0.2%. China's Shanghai Composite bucked the downbeat trend, however, adding 0.05%.
Stocks in Europe are in the black ahead of tomorrow's European Central Bank (ECB) policy-setting meeting, as energy and tech stocks trade higher. Germany's DAX is up 0.3%, despite data showing July's industrial output fell by 1.5% -- its largest monthly drop in roughly two years. London's FTSE 100 is nearly 0.1% higher, as Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney prepares to answer lawmakers' questions over the central bank's
post-Brexit stimulus measures. Rounding out the region, France's CAC 40 has added 0.2%.
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