In Asian markets, stocks fell on Thursday as investors fretted about an imminent recession, while Treasury yields increased on the expectation that the Federal Reserve would continue to aggressively raise interest rates.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong lost 2.60% as of 9.35 a.m. Thai time, after briefly falling 3% in early trade, to its lowest level since May 2009.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.31%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 1.18%.
Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.69%.
South Korea’s Kospi dipped 1.35%.
Overnight, the value of the offshore yuan dropped to an all-time low of 7.2745 per dollar. Last price was $7.2690. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen fell to a new 32-year low of 149.95 against the greenback.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hit 4.138% on Wednesday, the highest level since July 23, 2008. This led to a decline in U.S. markets.
At market close, the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.85% at 10,680.51, while the S&P 500 was down 0.7% at 3,695.16. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day down 99.99 points, or 0.33%, at 30,423.81.
At its meeting on November 1-2, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points, the fourth consecutive increase of such a size. This is being done in an effort to stem the highest pace of inflation in four decades.
