Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday ahead of next week's rate-setting FOMC meeting. Investors have also digested the monetary policy announcements by the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan. Also, the IMF cuts Asia’s growth forecast from 6.5% (2021) to 4% this year and 4.3% in 2023 amid a sharp slowdown in China's economy, war in Ukraine and global monetary tightening. Chinese shares tumbled as rising Covid-19 cases and expanding restrictions added to concerns of a dim economic outlook. Moreover, Japanese shares declined after US technology giants Amazon.com, Microsoft and Intel said this week that customers were taking an axe to cloud and datacenter spending.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,915.93 | -66.97 | -2.25 |
Hang Seng | 14,863.06 | -564.88 | -3.66 |
Jakarta Composite | 7,056.04 | -35.72 | -0.50 |
KLSE Composite | 1,447.31 | -6.78 | -0.47 |
Nikkei 225 | 27,105.20 | -240.04 | -0.88 |
Straits Times | 3,059.19 | 43.95 | 1.46 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,268.40 | -20.38 | -0.89 |
Taiwan Weighted | 12,788.42 | -137.95 | -1.07 |
