Asian markets settled mostly lower on Thursday, tracking weakness in Wall Street overnight as the US Fed delivered a widely expected 75-bps rate hike and signalled more aggressive rate hikes ahead to curb rampant inflation reaching a 40-year high. Russian President Putin’s announcement of Russia’s first mobilisation since the second world war also adding more pressure on market sentiments. Moreover, concerns over China's slowdown and global recession fears also fuelled cautious trading sentiment. Lingering concerns over the economic impact of China's zero-covid policy weighed on Chinese shares. Japanese shares declined as investors reacted to the Bank of Japan's decision to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy, while Japanese markets will be closed tomorrow for a national holiday. Although, Indonesian shares rose as the country's central bank delivered a larger-than-expected interest rate hike in line with expectation.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,108.91 | -8.27 | -0.27 |
Hang Seng | 18,147.95 | -296.67 | -1.61 |
Jakarta Composite | 7,218.91 | 30.60 | 0.43 |
KLSE Composite | 1,439.16 | -8.02 | -0.55 |
Nikkei 225 | 27,153.83 | -159.30 | -0.58 |
Straits Times | 3,263.07 | 1.28 | 0.04 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,332.31 | -14.90 | -0.63 |
Taiwan Weighted | 14,284.63 | -139.89 | -0.97 |
