Asian stocks shrug off Wall St weakness but growth concerns remain

Asia stocks opened mostly in positive territory on Wednesday even as global growth concerns and weak US economic data weighed on Wall Street overnight.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.35%, Australian shares were up 0.33%, and Seoul and Taiwan both ticked upwards 0.61% and 0.2%.

Hong Kong's, Shanghai's and China's CSI300 indexes opened marginally higher while Japan's Nikkei share average was down 0.18%.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.35% and the S&P 500 lost 0.81% as worries returned over surging global inflation cornering central banks into aggressive rate hikes, thereby slowing growth.

"The Fed's problem right now is that plenty of soft indicators and surveys are pointing to a slowdown," Steve Englander of Standard Chartered Bank said.

"While hard data on activity and inflation do not suggest an imminent slowdown, it is hard to ignore a day when the S&P services PMI, new home sales, and Richmond Fed index all come in below the lowest expectation."

New home sales in the United States fell 16.6% month-on-month in April, the biggest drop in nine years, sending yields on US Treasuries down to lows of one months as investors once again turned to safety. The benchmark 10-year note was at 2.768% and the two-year yield fell to 2.464%, the lowest since April 19, before rising to 2.483%.

Gold prices also maintained their position at $1,865.39 an ounce, after hitting a two-week high on Tuesday as the appeal of the safe-haven metal was bolstered by a weaker US dollar and rising prices. lower Treasury yields.

Oil prices climbed amid tight supply US crude futures stood at $110.45 a barrel and Brent at $114.22. Read more

Social media stocks were left in dire straits on Wall Street after a Snap earnings warning sent its shares tumbling 43%.