Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as the impasse in the U.S. Congress on raising the debt limit and avoiding a default before the October 18th deadline added to worries over inflation and higher interest rates.
Chinese markets remained closed for Golden Week holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended down 137.66 points, or 0.6 percent, at 23,966.49 after a survey showed the country's private sector expanded at a slower pace in September.
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Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.