ASIAN stock markets rose Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, after Wall Street losses deepened as worries grow that the U.S. economy is headed for recession.
Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced. Seoul declined. Oil prices gained.
Traders worry the Federal Reserve and other central banks might be willing to tip Western economies into recession as they try to extinguish inflation that is at multi-decade highs.
A Fed board member, Lael Brainard, and President Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank in separate appearances Thursday affirmed plans to keep interest rates elevated despite market hopes central banks might scale back plans due to indications economic activity might be cooling.
“That again implies more hikes to come and then a long hiatus, not the imminent reversal markets are pricing for,” Rabobank said in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 3,260.04 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained less than 0.1 percent to 26,411.94. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.9 percent to 21,844.98.
The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.2 percent to 2,384.47 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 was less than 0.1 percent higher at 7,439.50. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets rose.
On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.8 percent to 3,898.85 in its third daily decline.
More than 75 percent of the stocks in the S&P 500 closed lower.
Technology companies, retailers and industrial stocks were among the biggest drags. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 3.5 percent, Home Depot dropped four percent and Deere & Co. fell 4.1 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.8 percent to 33,044.56. The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled one percent to 10,852.27. (AP)