Asian stocks outside Japan drop on taper talks, US jobs eyed

The stocks on the Asian bourses trade quite mixed so far this Wednesday, with most major indices in the red amid latest chatter that the central banks are considering withdrawal of global stimulus measures.

Bloomberg ran a story a day before, quoting some unnamed ECB official citing that ECB is near to consensus to taper the asset-buying program before it ends. While Fed members continue to back the case for a rate hike this year.

While the Japanese stocks ditch their Asian peers and trade firmer on the back of recent weakness in the yen against the US dollar, which helped lift the export-oriented stocks. The Australian markets trade with size-able losses, unable to benefit from upbeat Aus retail trade data and a rebound in commodities’ prices.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 now rises +0.57% to 16,830, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 drops -0.47% to 5460. Hong Kong markets trade +0.63% higher around 23,850 levels. The mainland China markets will remain closed for the balance of this week on account of annual National Day Golden Week.