Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday as hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials indicated that interest rate hikes could be on the way sooner rather than later. Chinese shares fell for the first time in eight days after the People's Bank of China issued a clarification, saying recent comments by Governor Zhou Xiaochuan encouraging individuals to invest personal savings in the stock market were ‘misinterpretations’. Hong Kong shares finished slightly lower with financial shares leading indexes down, in line with a sell-off in mainland China markets. However, Japanese shares rose for the first time in five days as a weaker yen boosted
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,999.36 | -19.44 | -0.64 |
| Hang Seng | 20,666.75 | -17.40 | -0.08 |
| Jakarta Composite | 4,856.11 | -29.06 | -0.59 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,724.75 | 6.39 | 0.37 |
| Nikkei 225 | 17,048.55 | 323.74 | 1.94 |
| Straits Times | 2,880.65 | -0.04 | -- |
| KOSPI Composite | 1,996.81 | 7.05 | 0.35 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 8,785.68 | -27.02 | -0.31 |