Monday saw a slight decline in Asia’s stock markets following Wall Street’s worst week for 2023 last Friday, as investors reacted to forecasts for US interest rates following hot inflation data.
As of 9.29 A.M. (Thai time), in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded 1.18% lower, while the Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.16%.
In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 1.05%.
Chinese markets were also lower, with the Shanghai Composite lost 0.10%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.25%.
Important economic developments in Asia will be closely monitored by investors. On Monday, Kazuo Ueda, the frontrunner to lead the Bank of Japan, will address the upper house. The unemployment rate in Japan will also be reported later this week.
U.S. stocks took a major hit on Friday as the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge revealed a larger-than-anticipated increase in consumer prices over the previous month.
With a 2.7% loss, it was the S&P 500’s worst week since December 9. This was the fourth consecutive week that the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined. The Nasdaq Composite ended the week down 3.3%, making it the second down week in a row.
