Asian stock markets dipped on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another 25 basis points. The stocks of regional banks in the United States also declined after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the government is not considering a “blanket insurance” for bank deposits.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.72% as of 9:33 AM Bangkok time. The Nikkei 225 index in Japan fell by 0.39%.
The Kospi in South Korea dropped by 0.17 percent.
The Hang Seng index climbed 0.12%, bucking the regional trend. The Shanghai Composite Index on the mainland saw slight gains in trading.
The three major American indices fell overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 500 points, or 1.63%, while the S&P 500 dropped by 1.65% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.6%.
The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, as expected by the financial markets.
This is the first announcement by the central bank since the banking industry collapsed, and it is the ninth rate increase since the Fed began hiking rates in March 2022. With this rise, the target range for the federal funds rate is now between 4.75% and 5%.
In a statement released after their meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee said they will “closely monitor incoming information and assess the implications for monetary policy.” The market expects the Fed to raise rates only once more this year.
