Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates following the hawkish remarks by US Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who reiterated the Fed is likely to continue raising interest rates in an effort to contain stubbornly elevated inflation. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.
The Fed left rates unchanged last week, but the central bank's latest projections suggest it plans to resume raising rates later this year, forecasting a rate of 5.6 percent by the end of 2023. The forecast for additional rate hikes come as Powell noted inflation pressures continue to run high and said the process of getting inflation back to the Fed's 2 percent target has a "long way to go."
The Australian stock market is sharply lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,200 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, dragged by weakness across most sectors, led by strong losses in mining and technology stocks.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com