Bangkok, June 10 (BNA): Most shares in Asia fell on Friday, with only Shanghai gaining after the government reported inflation held steady at more than 2% in May, giving more freedom to policies to promote slow growth.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.5% to 27,824.29 while Seoul’s Kospi shed 1.1% to 2,595.87. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.3% to 6932.00. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3%, paring early gains, to 21801.16.
The Shanghai Composite added 1.4% to 3,284.83 after the government reported that consumer price inflation remained muted at 2.1% in May, according to the Associated Press.
This leaves regulators with more room to adjust policy in the face of a prolonged economic slowdown that has been exacerbated by the widespread restrictions imposed to respond to the outbreak of the Corona virus.
In another market-related move, China’s Security Regulatory Commission released a statement saying it had not yet assessed and considered reviving Ant’s Group’s plan to conduct an initial public offering.
This came in response to a report that said approval for the IPO was pending, but the commission said it supported listing shares of “qualified platform companies” in domestic and overseas markets.
The government’s cancellation of Ant’s earlier efforts to launch an initial public offering came amid a widespread crackdown on major tech companies that have battered markets, particularly in Hong Kong where many of these companies are trading.
The broad expectation is that the Federal Reserve will raise its key interest rate next week by half a percentage point, the second consecutive increase by twice the usual amount. Investors expect a third to reach in July.
Where the Fed goes from there depends on the trajectory of inflation. The latest report on the US Consumer Price Index is due later Friday morning and economists expect it to show inflation slowing to 8.2% in May from 8.3% the previous month.
Investors are hoping for signs that inflation has already peaked, which will be good for markets as it could mean the Fed is less aggressive.
The S&P 500 lost 97.95 points to close at 4017.82, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.9% to 32,272.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.8% to 11,754.23.
The US crude oil benchmark lost 80 cents to $120.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 60 cents to $121.51 on Thursday.
Brent crude, the pricing standard for international trade, lost 70 cents to $122.37 a barrel.
In currency trading, the dollar fell to 133.66 Japanese yen from 134.35 yen. The euro rose to $1.0639 from $1.0619.
insult