Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday tracking steep falls on Wall Street overnight amid concerns that the US Federal Reserve would stick to its aggressive tightening path for longer to cool off inflation, while forecasts of a recession in 2023 also weighed on the market. Chinese shares slipped as the country battled a wave of Covid-19 cases. China is reporting over a million new infections and at least 5,000 deaths every day. Japanese shares declined sharply as data showed Japan's core consumer inflation hit a fresh 40-year high in November. Meanwhile, minutes of the Bank of Japan's October policy meeting showed that some policymakers called for the need to continue checking how a future exit from ultra-low interest rates could affect markets and households' mortgage rates.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,045.87 | -8.56 | -0.28 |
Hang Seng | 19,593.06 | -86.16 | -0.44 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,800.67 | -23.76 | -0.35 |
KLSE Composite | 1,474.68 | 6.33 | 0.43 |
Nikkei 225 | 26,235.25 | -272.62 | -1.03 |
Straits Times | 3,257.70 | -11.83 | -0.36 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,313.69 | -43.04 | -1.83 |
Taiwan Weighted | 14,271.63 | -171.31 | -1.19 |
