Asian stock markets fell on Thursday after Fed made no firm decision on when to end their support measures for the economy.
Remarkably, the lack of a directive from the Federal Reserve fueled worries over increasing COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant, and the pandemic’s impact on consumer spending and jobs growth.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell by 0.7% to 27,394.43. Meanwhile, the Kospi in South Korea dipped 0.9% to 3,130.67 and the Shanghai Composite Index declined 1% to settle at 3,451.04.
Furthermore, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.6% to 25,444.10. Australia’s S&P-ASX 200 fell 0.4% to 7,474.00.
Notably, minutes of the Fed’s July 27-28 meeting showed that most officials in attendance considered it was appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year.
The Federal Reserve’s purchases were meant to lower long-term interest rates and stimulate borrowing and spending. Significantly, it includes Treasury and mortgage bond buying, which now amounts to $120bn a month. But officials ended short of setting a firm timeline.
Small-company stocks also declined, weighing on Russell 2000 index
In the previous session, stocks declined broadly on Wall Street. Remarkably, the benchmark S&P 500 dipped 1.1% to 4,400.27 in its biggest fall since mid-July.
Financial, health care, technology, and industrial firms were the biggest losers. But the index’s consumer discretionary sector surged as investors bid up shares in Lowe’s. Furthermore, other big retailers published better-than-anticipated quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 1.1% to 34,960.69. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9% to 14,525.91. Moreover, small company stocks also declined, weighing on Russell 2000 index by 0.8% to 2,158.78.
Additionally, benchmark U.S. crude tumbled $1.16 to $64.30 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude dropped $1.05 to $67.18 per barrel in London.
Furthermore, the U.S. dollar against the yen was boosted to 110.17 from Wednesday’s 109.76 yen. Meanwhile, the euro slid to $1.1672 from $1.1721.
Interested in Stock Trading? Read WiBestBroker’s comprehensive review on HFTrading.
COMMENTS