European Stocks Rose While Stocks in Asia Declined

European stocks strengthened their positions on Thursday as volatility continued following details of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening plans and the situation in Ukraine.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.5% by mid-afternoon as U.S. Treasury yields fell from multi-year highs after four days of declines. Chemicals gained 1.3% to leas gains while oil and gas stocks dropped 0.6%.

Interestingly, the Stoxx 600 closed down by around 1.6% on Wednesday. The European blue-chip index declined as hawkish comments from two Fed policymakers heightened expectations that the Fed would embark on a more aggressive tightening process.

Stocks in Asia-Pacific on Thursday

On the contrary, stocks in Asia-Pacific declined on Thursday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.69% to 26,888.57.  On Thursday, the Topix fell 1.56% to 1,892.90. The Nikkei 225 and Topix dropped nearly 2% earlier in the session before paring some losses. Shares of Fast Retailing declined 3.365% and fell to 60,180.

Mainland Chinese stocks also fell on Thursday. The Shanghai composite dropped 1.42% to end its trading day at 3,226.70. In the meantime, the Shenzhen component plunged 1.65% to end its trading day at 11,972.02. 

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined 1% in late trade. Besides, the Hang Seng tech index was 2.38% lower. Shares of Bilibili dropped 4.35%. Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba declined 1.67%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.63% to 7,442.8.

South Korea’s Kospi suffered losses on Thursday. It declined 1.43% to end its trading day at 2,695.86. The Kosdaq dropped 1.61% to 927.95. 

Samsung Electronics achieved good results. It reported its operating profit for the first quarter of the year likely jumped 50% as compared to a year ago. The company posted an estimated 14.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion) profit. Samsung’s stock fell 0.73% to 68,000.