Most Asian markets slip following Fed rate hike fears and poor US corporate earnings

Most Asian stock market indices were trading lower on Wednesday (12 October), with the Shanghai Composite down 0.43% at 3,052.20 as of 6.18am GMT following negative overnight close on Wall Street amid renewed Fed rate hike fears and poor US corporate earnings.

The CME Fed Fund futures prices, a watch tool used to gauge the market's mood on the likelihood of changes in US monetary policy, showed that 74.5% expected a rate increase in December, up from 69.5% a day earlier.

This hit trading sentiment in the region amid fears that a potential rate increase by the US central bank would lead to foreign funds being pulled out of Asia.

"People are starting to wake up that the hike is coming... The Fed is running out of excuses not to hike," Hao Hong, research head at Bocom International was quoted as saying by MarketWatch.

Heng Koon How, a strategist with Credit Suisse added: "This is the first time [in a while] the Fed Fund futures have traded above a 70% [probability] for hiking. The market is taking it for real now... the market is very concerned."

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 6.36am GMT:

Overnight (11 October), the FTSE 100 hit fresh highs but eventually closed 0.38% lower at 7,070.88, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 1.09% at 18,128.66.

Among commodities, oil prices moved closer to one-year highs as investors expect both Opec and non-Opec producers to cap output. While WTI crude oil was trading higher by 0.32% at $50.95 (£41.53) a barrel, Brent crude was trading 0.44% higher at $52.64 a barrel as of 6.44am GMT.