Equity benchmarks in Japan and Australia fell alongside Hong Kong share futures while Taiwan’s markets will be closed Thursday as Typhoon Khanun approaches, according to a statement from the stock exchange.
A gauge of Asian stocks headed for its first advance this week as a rally in Japanese shares provided a counterweight to global markets facing the prospect of further interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
(Bloomberg) US and European equity futures fell Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of further rate hikes and as investors awaited a swathe of central bank decisions from the UK to Norway and Switzerland. Futures for the Euro Stoxx 50 fell around 0.9% to place the region-wide benchmark on track for a fourth consecutive session of declines. Contracts for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also drifted lower after the two benchmarks fell for a third consecutive session Wednesday. The action precedes a busy day for central banks, with monetary policymakers in England, Switzerland and Norway all expected to raise interest rates. Investors are rethinking the bullish spirits unleashed by last week’s Fed rate pause after Chair Jerome Powell underscored the need to tame inflation during his semi-annual report to Congress. Powell warned that higher rates were needed and two more rate hikes this year was “a pretty good guess.” Separately, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bosti