Shares in Asia markets were mixed on Thursday as investors continued to monitor recession concerns.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index opened 0.7% higher, with the Hang Seng Tech index rising over 1%.
The Mainland Chinese market’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.23%, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.06%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.39% higher.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi fell slightly 0.13%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 47.12 points, or 0.15%, to 30,483.13. The S&P 500 fell 0.13% to 3,759.89. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.15% to 11,053.08 points.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell told Congress on late Wednesday that the central bank is “strongly committed” to reducing inflation. U.S. inflation has reached levels not seen in forty years.
“It’s not our intended outcome at all, but [a recession is] certainly a possibility, and frankly the events of the last few months around the world have made it more difficult for us to achieve what we want, which is 2% inflation and still a strong labor market,” Powell said, nonetheless adding that he believes the economy is strong for now.
Singapore today will announce its inflation numbers as part of its economic report.
