Asian stocks fluctuate, yen hits seven-week high

Asian stocks experienced a decline on Wednesday following disappointing earnings reports from major U.S. tech companies Tesla and Alphabet, which dampened investor sentiment.

Meanwhile, the yen surged to a seven-week high ahead of a central bank meeting next week, where a rate hike remains a possibility, News.Az reports citing Reuters.

The U.S. dollar was broadly steady, with traders watching out for an inflation reading on Friday and Federal Reserve meeting next week. The Bank of Japan is also due to meet next week, where a 10 basis point hike is priced at a 44% chance.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.35% lower, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225), fell 1%. Taiwan financial markets are closed due to a typhoon.

Nasdaq futures slid 1%, while S&P 500 futures were 0.6% lower after Tesla reported its smallest profit margin in more than five years, weighing on other EV stocks.

Shares of Google-parent Alphabet slipped in after-hours trade even as the firm beat revenue and profit targets.

Investor focus will be on European luxury stocks after the world's biggest luxury group LVMH reported slowing sales growth as Chinese shoppers lower their spending.

Chinese stocks were subdued in choppy trading, with the Shanghai Composite index flat, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was 0.26% lower after recording its largest one-day decline since mid-January on Tuesday.

The Japanese yen spiked to its highest in seven weeks of 154.36 per dollar after surging nearly 1% on Tuesday, having languished near a 38-year low of 161.96 at the start of the month. It was last up 0.56% at 154.75.

Traders suspect Tokyo intervened in the currency market in early July to yank the yen away from those lows, with estimates from BOJ data indicating authorities may have spent roughly 6 trillion yen ($38.62 billion) to prop up the frail currency.

The bouts of intervention have led speculators to unwind popular and profitable carry trades, in which traders borrow the yen at low rates to invest in dollar-priced assets for a higher return.

The yen was broadly higher, with the Japanese unit touching more than a one-month high against the pound , the euro and a two-month high against the Australian dollar .

The dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six rivals, was little changed at 104.41. The index is down 1.3% this month.

In commodities, oil prices rose on easing U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude futures for September rose 0.28% to $81.24 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for September gained 031% to $77.2per barrel.

News.Az