Asian markets settled mostly down on Friday, pressured by strength in US Treasury yields after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell blessed a 50 basis point rate hike in May and signaled support for further aggressive tightening to curb inflation by noting that he saw merit in ‘front-end loading’ policy moves. Japanese shares declined tracking Wall Street's overnight weakness. Meanwhile, Japan's key consumer prices advanced at the fastest pace in more than two years in March. However, Chinese shares gained slightly as authorities pledged to provide more support to hard-hit firms amid crippling covid outbreaks.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,086.92 | 7.11 | 0.23 |
Hang Seng | 20,638.52 | -43.70 | -0.21 |
Jakarta Composite | 7,225.61 | -50.58 | -0.70 |
KLSE Composite | 1,601.97 | 3.65 | 0.23 |
Nikkei 225 | 27,105.26 | -447.80 | -1.63 |
Straits Times | 3,361.11 | 12.65 | 0.38 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,704.71 | -23.50 | -0.86 |
Taiwan Weighted | 17,025.09 | -102.86 | -0.60 |
