Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday as more hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials on interest rate hikes made investors more cautious. Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday signaled that they stand ready to take more aggressive action to cool down inflation, including a possible of 50-basis-point interest rate hike at the next policy meeting in May. Meanwhile, ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine also weighed on market sentiments. Chinese shares declined amid rising Sino-US tensions after Washington sought to deter China from aiding sanctions-hit Russia. Japanese shares gained after manufacturing data for March showed improvement from the previous month. Data showed that Japan’s Manufacturing Industry PMI rose to 53.2 and the service sector PMI to 48.7. Seoul shares declined after jump in oil prices raised concerns about persistently high inflation.
Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,250.26 | -20.77 | -0.63 |
Hang Seng | 21,945.95 | -208.13 | -0.94 |
Jakarta Composite | 7,049.68 | 53.56 | 0.77 |
KLSE Composite | 1,598.97 | 1.09 | 0.07 |
Nikkei 225 | 28,110.39 | 70.23 | 0.25 |
Straits Times | 3,399.70 | 35.44 | 1.05 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,729.66 | -5.39 | -0.20 |
Taiwan Weighted | 17,699.06 | -32.31 | -0.18 |
