Wall Street gains pause as Japan opens

Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Wednesday after U.S. benchmark indices S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite snapped an eight-day winning streak overnight.

this S&P 500 It fell by 0.2%, while Nasdaq Composite Index Down 0.33%. Dow Jones Industrial Average If the S&P rises on Tuesday, it would be the longest winning streak for the index since 2004.

In Asia, Japan’s July trade data Exports rose 10.3% from a year earlier, while imports rose 16.6%. Economists polled by Reuters had expected exports to rise 11.4% and imports to rise 14.9%.

Japan’s trade deficit swung to 621.84 billion yen ($4.28 billion), wider than the 330.7 billion yen expected by economists, as exports fell short of expectations and imports rose more than expected.

July will be the last month of trade data recorded by the Bank of Japan before it raises interest rates at the end of July, which has led to a sharp strengthening of the yen.

Typically, a weaker yen benefits Japanese exporters and trading companies, which are heavyweights in the Nikkei 225 index, and their gains played an important role in the Nikkei 225 index hitting a record high.

Japanese Nikkei 225 Index Japanese shares fell 0.88% after the data, while the broad-based Topix index fell 0.6%.

Hongkong Hang Seng Index It fell 1.38%, leading the decline in Asian stocks, with mainland China’s CSI 300 index falling 0.57%.

Technology and consumer cyclical stocks drag down the Hang Seng Index, with e-commerce giants JD.com The biggest loser was Walmart, which fell 11.4%. Earlier, the US retail giant Walmart told CNBC that it was considering selling its stake in JD.com. The value is reportedly $3.74 billion.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.23% and the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.13%.

Australia S&P/ASX 200 It also fell by 0.48%.

—CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.