Investing.com - Asian stocks were under siege from two angles during Thursday’s session as traders scampered out of riskier assets.
In Asian trading Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.08% despite USD/JPY trading higher. Asian stocks took their cues from their U.S. counterparts, which fell after the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it could begin tapering its USD85 billion-a-month bond-buying program later this year and perhaps quantitative easing altogether in 2014.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged 2.08% while the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.16% after the flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 48.3 in June from May's final reading of 49.2. The June reading represents a nine-month low. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.
More slack economic data out of China sent Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down 1.3% as AUD/USD was found flirting with 33-month lows. China is Australia’s largest trading partner. The Aussie was also crushed by Fed comments.
"The Committee sees the downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as having diminished since the fall," the Fed said in its statement.
"The Committee also anticipates that inflation over the medium term likely will run at or below its 2 percent objective."
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 retreated 1.08% after Statistics New Zealand said the country’s GDP grew 0.3% in the first quarter, well below the 0.6% economists expected. The first-quarter number was just a fifth of the 1.5% growth posted in the fourth quarter.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.31%. This could be the tenth straight day that foreign investors dump South Korean shares, the worst such skid in two months.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 1.55% while S&P 500 futures dropped 0.42% a day after the benchmark U.S. index slid 1.39%.
In Asian trading Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.08% despite USD/JPY trading higher. Asian stocks took their cues from their U.S. counterparts, which fell after the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it could begin tapering its USD85 billion-a-month bond-buying program later this year and perhaps quantitative easing altogether in 2014.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged 2.08% while the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.16% after the flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 48.3 in June from May's final reading of 49.2. The June reading represents a nine-month low. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.
More slack economic data out of China sent Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down 1.3% as AUD/USD was found flirting with 33-month lows. China is Australia’s largest trading partner. The Aussie was also crushed by Fed comments.
"The Committee sees the downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as having diminished since the fall," the Fed said in its statement.
"The Committee also anticipates that inflation over the medium term likely will run at or below its 2 percent objective."
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 retreated 1.08% after Statistics New Zealand said the country’s GDP grew 0.3% in the first quarter, well below the 0.6% economists expected. The first-quarter number was just a fifth of the 1.5% growth posted in the fourth quarter.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.31%. This could be the tenth straight day that foreign investors dump South Korean shares, the worst such skid in two months.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 1.55% while S&P 500 futures dropped 0.42% a day after the benchmark U.S. index slid 1.39%.