Asian equities opened lower across the board on Thursday on the back of a bleak Chinese economic outlook and Federal Reserve minutes signaling policymakers face a tough balancing act to keep inflation under control while avoiding recession.
As of 9:25 a.m. Thai time, the Shanghai Composite in mainland China down 0.32%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.22% lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.86%, while in South Korea, the Kospi reversed after a positive start, falling 0.49%.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia also fell 0.32%.
Losses in Japan, China, and Hong Kong weighed on an Asian equity index in the early morning trading. US contracts dropped as stocks on Wall Street slid for the first time in four days, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index falling by more than 1%.
Fed officials saw a need to slow the pace of interest rate hikes, citing worries about the impact of severe tightening on the economy, while also raising concerns about the potential for enduring inflationary pressures.
Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered their full-year growth estimate for China from 3.3% to 3%. The property crisis, the expansion of Covid, and the recent strain on the country’s electricity grid have all crippled the economy.
