Beijing, Mar.10 (BNA): Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Friday ahead of a U.S. jobs update amid worries about possible further interest rate hikes.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined. Oil prices edged lower, reports AP today.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell Thursday by its biggest one-day margin this year after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned rates might be raised faster than expected to cool stubbornly high inflation.
Traders looked ahead to U.S. government hiring data Friday following other indicators that show the job market has stayed strong despite repeated interest rate hikes.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1% to 3,242.27 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo tumbled 1.7% to 28,143.97. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slid 2.4% to 19,445.27.
The Kospi in Seoul gave up 1% to 2,395.41 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 lost 2.3% to 7,144.70.
India’s Sensex opened down 1.2% at 59,121.10. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets declined.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude lost 52 cents to $75.20 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract fell 94 cents the previous session to $75.72. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, declined 36 cents to $81.23 per barrel in London. It sank $1.07 the previous session to $81.59.
The dollar gained to 136.69 yen from Thursday’s 136.17 yen. The euro rose to $1.0588 from $1.0578.
Source: Bahrain News Agency