Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday, pressured by surge in US Treasury bond yields amid bets on the US Federal Reserve's faster rate hikes in 2022. The US central bank’s interest rate-setting committee has signalled three rate hikes in 2022, is widely expected to announce the first rate increases in March. Further, Covid-19 concerns also weighed on market sentiments. Japanese shares declined marginally as the Japanese central bank (BOJ) maintained its monetary policy stimulus unchanged and lifted its inflation forecast for the next fiscal year, citing a rise in commodity prices. Meanwhile, the Japanese government is likely to apply quasi-emergency priority measures to 13 prefectures, including Tokyo, Kanagawa and Aichi, where infections with the novel corona-virus are rapidly spreading. However, Chinese shares gained as investors continues to digest the policy rate cuts from the People’s Bank of China from the day before, which opened the door to more monetary easing actions ahead.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,569.91 | 28.24 | 0.80 |
Hang Seng | 24,112.78 | -105.25 | -0.43 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,614.06 | -30.99 | -0.47 |
KLSE Composite | -- | -- | -- |
Nikkei 225 | 28,257.25 | -76.27 | -0.27 |
Straits Times | 3,280.04 | -7.91 | -0.24 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,864.24 | -25.86 | -0.89 |
Taiwan Weighted | 18,378.64 | -146.80 | -0.79 |
