Asian stocks lower ahead of Abe speech; Nikkei down 0.15%

Investing.com – Asian stocks traded lower during Wednesday’s Asian following Australia's first-quarter GDP report and ahead of a speech by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later Wednesday.

In Asian trading Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.15%. It is widely expected that in his speech today Abe will outline his plans for boosting Japanese incomes by 3%. Abe is also expected to propose new tax cuts aimed at bolstering growth in the world’s third-largest economy.

Abe needs to boost annual incomes by 2% to have a chance of 2% inflation being reached. While the yen has strengthened a bit recently, Japan bulls and yen bears still see Abe’s policies, to this point, has being positive.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.62% while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.10%.

In a speech given Tuesday, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George said she supports easing asset purchases due to the improving U.S. economy. George, in her first year as a Fed member, has been the most vocal critic of quantitative easing.

Those remarks come after other Fed members have been indicating backing off monetary easing would be prudent for the Fed to do.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.2% after data showed the world’s 12th-largest grew 0.6% in the first quarter from the fourth quarter and 2.5% on a year-over-year basis, according to a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Economists expected a 0.8% first-quarter increase.

Australian household spending also rose 0.6% in the first quarter while non-dwelling construction climbed 7.6%.

New Zealand’s NZSE 50 fell 0.25% while South Korea’s Kospie dropped 0.91% even though USD/JPY traded only slightly higher.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index while S&P 500 futures inched down 0.07% a day after the benchmark U.S. index dropped 0.55%.