Asian stocks close mostly lower, after slump in NY with Fed re-readings

Asian stock markets mostly closed sharply lower this Friday (6), following the fall that Wall Street suffered yesterday amid re-readings of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance (Fed, the US central bank).

The Hang Seng index led losses in Asia, down 3.81% in Hong Kong to 20,001.96 points, while South Korea’s Kospi returned from a holiday down 1.23% in Seoul to 2,644. 51 points, and the Taiex fell 1.72% in Taiwan to 16,408.20 points.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was down 2.16% to 3,001.56 points, and the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite dropped 1.71% to 1,859.39 points.

The exception was the Japanese Nikkei, which rose 0.69% in Tokyo, to 27,003.56 points, on the return of three days of holidays and helped by shares in the electricity and oil sectors.

Bad mood prevailed in Asia after the New York stock exchanges suffered robust losses on Thursday (5), amid fears that future interest rate hikes in the US could compromise the performance of the world’s largest economy.

At first, investors were relieved by a signal from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that the US central bank is not considering raising rates at a stronger pace than the 50 basis point hike announced on Wednesday.

Subsequently, however, the view prevailed that the Fed is in the early stages of a very aggressive monetary tightening cycle to combat high inflation, which persists amid the Russo-Ukrainian war. In addition, there are doubts about the Fed’s ability to adjust its policy without pushing the US into recession.

Asian business was also marked by a dose of caution ahead of yet another US employment report, which will be released this Friday morning and has a strong influence on the trajectory of US interest rates.

In Oceania, the Australian stock exchange also followed Wall Street, and the S&P/ASX 200 was down 2.16% in Sydney, at 7,205.60 points.

With information from Dow Jones Newswires

Source: CNN Brasil

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