Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday as traders took stock of the political crises in France and South Korea as well as comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicating that the U.S. central bank will cut rates again when it meets later this month.
Chinese shares ended modestly higher as investors awaited cues from an upcoming annual policy meeting that could roll out new stimulus measures.
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Market Analysis
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.