Currency traders work near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index , left, and the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Thursday after the Federal Reserve said U.S. inflation is too high, suggesting support for more aggressive interest rate hikes.
The Fed notes raised “the prospects of further tightening," while some investors see possible “excessive tightening dragging growth,” Venkateswaran Lavanya of Mizuho Bank said in a report. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% to 3,277.54 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 1% to 28,942.14. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 0.8% to 19,763.91.India's Sensex lost 0.3% to 60,064.94. New Zealand and Bangkok declined while Singapore and Jakarta advanced.
The U.S. central bank has hiked its benchmark lending rate twice this year by 0.75 percentage points, triple its usual margin. Forecasters say a hike of the same size is possible at its September meeting, though the likelihood has declined as data show the economy weakening.The Commerce Department reported July retail sales were flat compared with the previous month, defying predictions of a slight increase.
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