Containers at a shipping terminal in Yokohama, Japan on Oct. 18, 2021. Japan’s trade deficit surged in September as imports overwhelmed export growth.
This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following losses on Wall Street and ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision.
Investors in Asia assessed trade data out of Japan ahead of a Bank of Japan rate decision this week.
The country's exports grew 3.8% in November year-on-year, beating expectations of a 2.8% increase by economists polled by Reuters. Meanwhile, imports fell by 3.8%, coming in far below expectations of a 1% expansion.
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The numbers put Japan's trade balance at a deficit of 117.6 billion yen ($765.2 million), higher than expectations for a deficit of 688.9 billion yen.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.4% in trading, while the broad-based Topix was down 0.05%.
South Korea's Kospi was up 1%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.3% lower.
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Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was trading down 0.05%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ticked up 0.6%, while mainland China's CSI 300 was 0.5% higher.
The People's Bank of China will set its loan prime rates on Friday. The one-year LPR influences corporate loans and most household loans in China, while the five-year LPR serves as a benchmark for mortgage rates.
Markets are awaiting a rate decision from the Federal Reserve that will come Wednesday in the U.S. Traders are overwhelmingly expecting the Fed to deliver a 25-basis-point, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.
Trading on Tuesday in the U.S. saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumble for a ninth straight day, its first since 1978. The 30-stock average slid 267.58 points, or 0.61%, to settle at 43,449.90.
The S&P 500 lost 0.39% and closed at 6,050.61, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.32% to end at 20,109.06.
The Dow's losing streak began the day after it closed above 45,000 for the first time ever earlier in the month and it comes at a time when the broader market is doing well.
The S&P 500 hit a new high on Dec. 6 and sits less than 1% from that level. The Nasdaq hit a record on Monday.
Driving the Dow's losses has been a rotation into technology stocks and out of some of the more old-economy stocks that gained in November following Donald Trump's historic election win.
— CNBC's Brian Evans and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
Nissan shares surge 22%, Honda slips 1.2%
Nissan Motor shares surged Wednesday following a media report that the struggling Japanese automaker is looking to merge with Honda Motor, forming a bigger entity that can compete with larger rivals and invest more in the growing market for electric vehicles.
Nissan shares were last trading up 23.7%, while Honda shares slipped 3%.
Honda and Nissan are considering operating under a holding company, and soon will sign a memorandum of understanding, according to a report in the Nikkei newspaper. They also look to eventually bring Mitsubishi Motors, in which Nissan is the top shareholder with a 24% stake, under the holding company, according to the report. Shares of Mitsubishi Motors were last up 19%.
The merger, if successful, will be especially beneficial to Nissan, which had previously announced plans to slash 9,000 jobs and cut global production capacity by a fifth amid fierce competition in its major markets.
Read the full report here.
— April Roach
CNBC Pro: These 6 stocks rose as Nvidia fell into correction territory
Six stocks in the S&P 500 have been inversely correlated to Nvidia's share price moves over the past month, according to analysis by CNBC Pro.
Five of the six stocks have also risen by an average of 6.75% alongside Nvidia's fall from all-time highs.
It comes as Nvidia fell into correction territory this week, meaning it's fallen over 10% from its closing high of $148.88 reached last month.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
S&P 500 advance-decline line on 11-day losing streak
The Dow's nearly nine-day losing streak is not the only slump investors should be keeping an eye on.
Larry Benedict of The Opportunistic Trader said the S&P 500's advance-decline line has fallen for 11 straight sessions, its longest streak since at least 2001. The A/D line is a market indicator that compares the number of S&P 500 stocks rising or falling each trading day.
That sign of weak market breadth may be more of a warning sign for investors than the Dow's protracted slide.
"[The Dow]'s only 30 stocks, and really it's not indicative. ... Really I think the A/D line is really a big deal, because that's 500 stocks. That's not 30. That's really much more broad based, and it's really telling the story of the market," Benedict said.
— Jesse Pound
