Australian Stocks Lower on Oil Volatility

Stocks in Australia were under pressure from a volatile oil market Wednesday, while the rest of Asia Pacific edged up slightly as investors eyed Greece's debt situation.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.6%, after oil prices tumbled overnight on worries that swelling global oil inventories would keep prices subdued the next months. WTI crude oil was up 1.5% to $50.76 a barrel in early Asia trade, although they slid 5.4% on Tuesday in New York.

Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported a smaller-than-expected 1.6 million barrel build in crude stocks in the U.S. tied to a drop in imports for the week ended Feb. 6, according to Citi.

Energy and utilities stocks dragged on the Australian benchmark with Woodside Petroleum Ltd. down 3.7% and Origin Energy Ltd. down 2.2%. The U.S. Energy Department will release its definitive stockpile data later Wednesday.

Elsewhere, the Hang Seng was down 0.5%, with gains capped by the continuing debacle between Greece and its international creditors. While investors say they think Greece's problems are contained, the standoff is pushing the country closer to default and leaving the Eurozone.

The Shanghai Composite was up 0.5% on expectations that the growing risk of a deflationary spiral in China would encourage the country's central bank to ease monetary policy further.

Haitong International expects three or four cuts to the reserve requirement ratio this year and one or two interest rate cuts. The People's Bank of China late Tuesday released its fourth-quarter monetary-policy report, saying that it would continue prudent monetary policy and create what it described as "neutral and appropriate monetary conditions."

Markets in Japan are closed for national holiday.

Daniel Inman contributed to this article.

Write to Chao Deng at [e-mail]

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