Asian stocks finished mostly lower on Friday, tracking Wall Street's overnight losses amid fresh concerns over a hawkish interest rate decision by the Fed next week. The weakness came despite an unexpected jump in Chinese industrial output.
China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 73.52 points or 2.3 percent to finish at 3,126.40. The day's trading ranged between 3,126.40 and 3,191.83. The Shenzhen Component Index also lost 2.3 percent to close at 11,261.50.
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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.