Asian markets settled lower on Thursday tracking a mixed Wall Street overnight after the US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's hawkish remarks on interest rate hikes to tame inflation. Meanwhile, investors were awaiting cues from Friday's US jobs report and next week's inflation figures. Moreover, Chinese shares dropped after the release of weak inflation data. Data showed that China's consumer price inflation grew 1% last month from a year earlier, the lowest level since February 2022 and well below estimates, while producer prices went down 1.4% year on year in February after a 0.8% fall in January. However, Japanese shares gained with expectations that there will be no imminent change to stimulus as the BoJ concludes its two-day policy meeting on Friday.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,276.09 | -7.16 | -0.22 |
Hang Seng | 19,925.74 | -125.51 | -0.63 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,799.80 | 23.43 | 0.34 |
KLSE Composite | 1,449.53 | -5.13 | -0.35 |
Nikkei 225 | 28,623.15 | 178.96 | 0.63 |
Straits Times | 3,214.51 | -12.35 | -0.38 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,419.09 | -12.82 | -0.53 |
Taiwan Weighted | 15,770.66 | -47.54 | -0.30 |
