Asia-Pacific stock markets opened lower Wednesday after Wall Street’s poor performance Tuesday, on worries about a grim economic outlook as monetary policy tightens to fight rising inflation. Investors also await Japan’s consumer confidence data.
As of 9.36 hrs. local time in Thailand, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 1.35% lower, while mainland Chinese market’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.66%.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.11% and South Korea’s Kospi was 1.66% down.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lossed 1.24%.
Following disappointing economic data, U.S. markets struggled early gains and declined overnight. According to The Conference Board, the US consumer confidence index slipped in June to 98.7 from 103.2 in May.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 491.27 points, or 1.56%, to 30,946.99. The S&P 500 slid 2.01% to 3,821.55, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.0% to 11,181.54.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s consumer sentiment index fell, standing at 96.4 for June, down 6.2 points from May’s print, a central bank survey showed on Wednesday.
Later today, Japan will release its consumer confidence data.
