Asian markets settled mostly down on Thursday, tracking Wall Streets’ overnight fall due to heavy selling pressure after the US Federal Reserve delivered a 25-bps interest rate cut as expected but revised its projections to signal just two interest rate cuts next year compared to the four previously forecast, citing stubbornly high inflation. Market sentiments weakened further by investor worries that interest rates might be kept higher for longer due to policies proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump, including plans for tax cuts and widespread import tariffs. Chinese shares declined amid trade tensions as US authorities are contemplating a ban on China’s TP-Link routers due to cybersecurity risks, while China issued rules today to tighten scrutiny of foreign accounting firms' domestic operations as part of efforts to rein in accounting failures and fraud. Japanese shares fell, while the yen weakened following Bank of Japan's decision to refrain from raising interest rates.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,370.03 | -12.18 | -0.36 |
Hang Seng | 19,752.51 | -112.04 | -0.57 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,977.24 | -130.64 | -1.87 |
KLSE Composite | 1,600.09 | 0.51 | 0.03 |
Nikkei 225 | 38,813.58 | -268.13 | -0.69 |
Straits Times | 3,762.88 | -16.74 | -0.44 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,435.93 | -48.50 | -1.99 |
Taiwan Weighted | 22,932.25 | -236.42 | -1.03 |
