Asian stocks end lower on US interest rate fears, Chinese PMI

Asian stocks closed lower on Thursday (1st), after Wall Street racked up losses for the fourth straight session, amid concerns about further interest rate hikes in the US, and also in the wake of weak data from China’s manufacturing activity. .

Leading the wave of sales in Asia, the South Korean Kospi stock index was down 2.28% in Seoul, to 2,415.61 points, while the Japanese Nikkei dropped 1.53% in Tokyo, to 27,661.47 points.

Hang Seng lost 1.79% in Hong Kong, at 19,597.31 points, and Taiex was down 1.94% in Taiwan, at 14,801.86 points.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.54% to 3,184.98 points, and the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite lost 0.74% to 2,080.60 points.

The general bad mood in Asia came after New York stock exchanges were in the red for the fourth session in a row yesterday, still pressured by fears that the Federal Reserve (Fed, the US central bank) will maintain its aggressive posture and raise its base rates by 75 basis points once again at this month’s meeting, worsening the US economic outlook.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the world’s largest economy shrank in the first half of the year, which constitutes a “technical recession”.

China’s manufacturing sector also remains a concern.

The Chinese manufacturing PMI measured by S&P Global and Caixin Media fell from 50.4 in July to 49.5 in August, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction in activity.

The indicator is in line with the country’s official industrial PMI, which stood at 49.4 last month.

In addition to new outbreaks of Covid-19, China has been facing its worst heat wave in six decades, which has led to energy shortages and crippled manufacturing.

In Oceania, the Australian stock market followed Wall Street and Asia, and the S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.02% in Sydney, at 6,845.60 points.