Stocks in Asia-Pacific Reacted to the Fed’s Position

On Thursday, stocks in Asia-Pacific declined as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve’s position. The central bank indicated it could raise interest rates as soon as March. 

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 3.11% to end its trading day at 26,170.30. The Topix fell 2.61% to close at 1,844.44.

South Korea’s Kospi declined 3.5% to 2,614.49.

Shares of Samsung Electronics plunged 2.73%. The company’s shares declined after it reported a 53% jump in operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of time in 2020.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 1.99% to 23,807. The tech-focused Hang Seng Tech index declined 3.81% to 5,383.63.

Shares of Chinese tech giants listed in Hong Kong dropped sharply. Shares of Alibaba dropped 7.19%, J.D. fell 3.51%, Meituan declined 6.93%. Meanwhile, Tencent dropped 2.24%, and Bilibili fell 9.93%. 

Mainland Chinese stocks also declined on Thursday. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.78% to finish its trading day at 3,394.25. The Shenzhen component declined 2.77% to close at 13,398.84. 

In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 1.77% to 6,838.30.

Let’s look at the markets in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.44%, and India’s Nifty 50 was down 1.19% in afternoon trade. Nevertheless, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite erased losses and gained 0.16%. 

U.S. stocks on Wednesday

U.S. stocks suffered losses on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped in volatile trading on Wednesday after Federal Reserve’s Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the Federal Reserve has plenty of room to raise interest rates before it would harm the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 129.64 points or 0.4% to 34,168.09. Meantime, the S&P 500 dropped 0.2% to 4,349.93. The Nasdaq Composite finished little changed at 13,542.12, supported by Microsoft’s post-earnings gain.