Summary
- APAC markets are in red due to US Fed’s policy decision announcement.
- Australia employment numbers sound encouraging.
- China markets are a mixed bag while the Japanese markets are in deep red.
The equity markets in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region were trading in red on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve signalled at preponing the hike in interest rates to 2023.
The move by the Fed has cut short the record run of the benchmark Australian market, which followed its US peers at the time of opening. The ASX200 was trading 42 basis points lower than the yesterday’s close. Australia reported decline in the unemployment to 5.1%, while creating 115,000 more jobs in the county
In Japan, the Nikkei225 crashed 1.13%, while the Topix index shed 65 basis points. Elsewhere in Korea, the KOSPI was down 62 basis points.
In Mainland China, the stocks were mixed – although hovering near the flatline. On the one hand, the Shanghai Composite was trading up 8 basis points while the Shenzhen Composite was down 3 basis points.
In the Chinese administrative region of Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down 25 bps. On the other hand, in Taipei, which shares a very cozy political and economic equation with Washington, the Taiwan Weighted Index was down 48 bps.
The US Federal Reeserve on Wednesday said that it was advancing the time frame on interest rate hike. The Fed now expects two rate hikes in 2023. The move has also led to strengthening of the US dollar. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six peers, stood at 91.428 as compared with levels below 90.5 seen earlier this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 265.66 points overnight stateside to 34,033.67 while the S&P 500 slipped 0.54% to 4,223.70. The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.24% to 14,039.68.
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