Asian shares skid tracking Wall St uncertainty over inflation
Shares skidded in Asia on Wednesday after another broad decline on Wall Street as markets remain gripped by uncertainty over inflation, rising interest rates and the potential for a recession.
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Bangkok: Shares skidded in Asia on Wednesday after another broad decline on Wall Street as markets remain gripped by uncertainty over inflation, rising interest rates and the potential for a recession.
US futures edged higher while oil prices fell back. A weaker-than-expected US consumer confidence reading highlighted worsening consumer expectations due to persistently high inflation. That "dragged equities lower as sentiment soured for risky assets," Anderson Alves of ActivTrades, said in a commentary.
Investors are awaiting comments later in the day by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other top central bankers, he said. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9 per cent to 26,804.60 while the Kospi in Seoul fell 0.8 per cent to 2,377.99. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 2.4 per cent to 21,891.43.
The Shanghai Composite index sank 1.4 per cent to 3,361.52. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.9 per cent to 6,675.57. Bangkok's SET lost 0.5 per cent and India's Sensex was down 0.3 per cent. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 ended 2 per cent lower at 3,821.55, while the Dow dropped 1.6 per cent to 30,946.99.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 3 per cent to 11,181.54. The Russell 2000 gave up 1.9 per cent to 1,738.84. The indexes are all on pace to for losses of 6 per cent or more in June. Roughly 85 per cent of the stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 closed in the red.
