Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday as investors fretted that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates faster if pressure stays high on inflation.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 JP:NIK edged up 0.4% in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 AU:XJO slipped nearly 1% and South Korea’s Kospi KR:180721 dropped 1.3%.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 NIK edged up 0.4% in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO slipped nearly 1% and South Korea’s Kospi 180721 dropped 1.3%.
“Asian shares were under pressure on Wednesday as global equities sold off after hawkish comments from Fed Chair Powell. He noted recent macro data, while possibly related to seasonal adjustments, suggest the Committee might have to raise rates higher than expected,” said Anderson Alves at ActivTrades.
Inflation and what the Fed is doing about it have been at the center of Wall Street’s sharp swings this year. After seeming to be on a steady decline since last summer, reports on inflation last month came in surprisingly hot. So did a suite of other data on the economy. That would be a sharp turnaround after it had just slowed its pace of increases to 0.25 percentage points last month from earlier hikes of 0.50 and 0.75 points.
“This is the market coming back to realistic expectations,” said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors. ”I think it’s going to continue to wash out some of the excesses in the market.”
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