Tokyo, Jul 1 (BNA): Asian indices mostly fell on Friday, echoing a pullback on Wall Street, after a quarterly report from the Bank of Japan revived concerns about the world’s third-largest economy.
Recent data suggests global growth is slowing as countries grapple with renewed waves of the coronavirus outbreak and price hikes, the Associated Press reports.
Shares fell in Japan and South Korea, but rose slightly in Australia. Trading in Hong Kong is closed for a holiday.
In the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey, the leading index of major manufacturers was 9, down from 14 in the previous quarter and the second consecutive quarter of decline.
Tankan measures business sentiment by subtracting the number of companies saying business conditions are negative from those that respond positive.
The numbers for the non-manufacturing indicators were better, but concerns are growing due to pressures from the weak Japanese yen.
But in a bit of positive news, a survey by Chinese business magazine, Caixin, found factory activity in China expanded in June at its strongest rate in 13 months after the easing of anti-virus restrictions that shut down Shanghai and other industrial centers.
On Thursday, Wall Street closed its worst quarter since the pandemic began in early 2020. It was the worst first half since the first six months of 1970.
Rising inflation has been behind much of the slack in the broader market this year as companies raised prices on everything from food to clothing and consumers shrank. Inflation remains very high, according to a series of recent economic updates.
The Federal Reserve and other central banks have aggressively raised interest rates to try to slow economic growth in order to cool inflation.
Higher rates can bring down inflation, but they also risk a recession by slowing the economy too much. It also puts pressure on the prices of stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, and other investments.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude added 50 cents to $106.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 63 cents to $109.66 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar fell to 135.28 Japanese yen from 135.75 yen. The euro traded at $1.0464, down from $1.0484.
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