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Asia stocks tumble after US Fed says more rate hikes likely | Business and Economy News

Benchmark indexes across Asia fell after the US central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to a 15-year high.

Asian stock markets fell after the US Federal Reserve added to recession fears by saying it was not done raising the country’s interest rates to cool inflation.

Hong Kong’s benchmark lost 3.1% on Thursday, while Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney also trailed Wall Street lower after Fed raises key interest rates to 15-year high.

Oil prices fell while the euro remained below 99 cents.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 2.5% after the Fed raised short-term lending rates by 0.75 percentage points, three times its usual range, for the fourth time this year.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reinforced expectations of more rate hikes, saying “we have many ways to go”. He said it would be “very soon” to consider a pause.

“Recession risks are rising, but that is the price the Fed is willing to pay to keep inflation in check,” said James Knightley, Padhraic Garvey and Chris Turner of ING. know.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 488 points to 15,338.85 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 fell 1.9% to 6,855.40.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to 2,997.46. The Japanese market was closed for a holiday.

Kospi in Seoul fell 0.6 percent to 2,322.11. New Zealand and Southeast Asia markets also fell.

The Fed and central banks in Europe and Asia have raised interest rates aggressively this year to stave off inflation, which is at a multi-decade high. Investors fear that could tip the global economy into a recession.

Consumer prices in the US rose 6.2% year-on-year in September, on par with the previous month. But core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices to give a clearer picture of trends, accelerated to 5.1% from August’s 4.9%.

The Fed said on Wednesday that it may move to a more deliberate pace of rate hikes and will look at the overall economic impact.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index fell to 3,759.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.5% to 32,147.76. The Nasdaq composite fell 3.4% to 10,524.80.

Technology stocks, retailers and healthcare companies were among the biggest losers.

Apple, Inc. down 3.7%, Amazon.com, Inc. down 4.8% and Johnson & Johnson, Inc. down 1.5%.

Investors hope signs of weakening home sales and other activity may encourage Fed officials to ease their plans for rate hikes. But the latest data, especially on hiring, is relatively strong, a sign the Fed may continue to be positive.

The US government will release unemployment data on Thursday and a report on the broader jobs market on Friday.

In the energy market, the price of US benchmark crude oil lost 43 cents to $89.57 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.63 to $90 on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the base price for international oil trading, fell 27 cents to $95.89 a barrel in London. It rose $1.51 in the previous session to $96.16 a barrel.

The US dollar rose to 147.33 Japanese yen from 146.94 yen on Wednesday. The euro fell to 98.26 cents from 98.83 cents.



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