Asia markets open mixed following losses on Wall Street; Japan trade data in focus

Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Wednesday, following losses on Wall Street that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumble for a ninth straight day.

Investors in Asia assessed trade data out of Japan ahead of a Bank of Japan rate decision this week.

The country’s exports grew 3.8% in November year-on-year, beating expectations of a 2.8% increase by economists polled by Reuters. Meanwhile, imports fell by 3.8%, coming in far below expectations of a 1% expansion.

The numbers put Japan’s trade balance at a deficit of 117.6 billion yen ($765.2 million), higher than expectations for a deficit of 688.9 billion yen.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 opened to trade down 0.2%, while the broad-based Topix was up 0.2%.

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.9%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.5% lower.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading up 0.2%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.7% at open, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was 0.7% higher.

The People’s Bank of China will set its loan prime rates on Friday. The one-year LPR influences corporate loans and most household loans in China, while the five-year LPR serves as a benchmark for mortgage rates.

Markets are also awaiting a rate decision from the Federal Reserve that will come Wednesday in the U.S. Traders are overwhelmingly expecting the Fed to deliver a 25-basis-point, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.

In trading on Tuesday, the blue-chip Dow entered the history books with its first nine-day losing streak since 1978.

The 30-stock average slid 267.58 points, or 0.61%, to settle at 43,449.90. The S&P 500 lost 0.39% and closed at 6,050.61, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.32% to end at 20,109.06.

The Dow’s losing streak began the day after it closed above 45,000 for the first time ever earlier in the month and it comes at a time when the broader market is doing well.

The S&P 500 hit a new high on Dec. 6 and sits less than 1% from that level. The Nasdaq hit a record on Monday.

Driving the Dow’s losses has been a rotation into technology stocks and out of some of the more old-economy stocks that gained in November following Donald Trump‘s historic election win. 

— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.