Asian markets down after lacklustre session on Wall Street

Asian markets opened mostly down on Wednesday following a tepid lead from Wall Street, with traders trying to assess the Federal Reserve’s next moves in the fight against inflation.

The more or less flat results in New York left some looking for direction, with global investors scrutinising mixed earnings reports for major US lenders.

But receding fears of a banking crisis coupled with optimism for a recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy were still not enough to give a meaningful boost to sentiment.

“There’s not a lot of volatility because I think there’s not enough evidence of a full-blown recession, nor is there evidence of a full-blown growth track out there,” Michael Cuggino, president and portfolio manager of San Francisco-based Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds, told Bloomberg Radio.

On Wall Street, Bank of America rose on higher profits but Goldman Sachs was hit by a slowdown in corporate mergers.

Investors were also keeping an eye on the results of regional US banks after three collapsed last month as lenders faced pressure from rising interest rates.

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