Asian stocks mostly fell to 2.2%. Only Korea's KOSPI and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose slightly, gaining 0.7% and 0.5%. Other stock indices were falling; China's Shanghai Composite and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 were down 0.2% and 0.21% respectively. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined by 0.5%. China's Shenzhen Composite is the top loser, it lost 2.19%.
Asian stock indices traditionally follow the moves of the US indices. The latter in their turn declined amid US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech. He announced the central regulator planned to take stricter measures if necessary to achieve the target level of price growth.
Analysts give forecasts of further interest rate hikes. The rate will likely be increased by 75 points next month, and then it will probably be raised by another 50 points in November and by 25 points in December. However, the central regulator will start to evaluate the effect as early as the first quarter of 2023.
Moreover, investors focused on fresh statistics from PRC. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in the manufacturing sector rose to 49.4 points in August from 49 points in July, which was above expectations of analysts who predicted the growth to 49.2 points.
At the same time, the services sector PMI fell to 52.6 points in August from 53.8 points in July. Besides, the general PMI decreased from 52.5 points to 51.7 points.
Shares of Haidilao International Holding, Ltd., Netease, Inc., Meituan as well as Li Ning, Co. were top gainers among the Hang Seng Index components. They added 6.6%, 3.9%,4.2%, and 4% respectively.
Other companies declined: BYD's stocks lost 7.5%, Geely's stocks dropped by 1.2% and shares of PetroChina fell by 1.3%.
Shares of Country Garden Holdings Co. lost 4.8% due to reduction of its net profit by 96% in January-June 2022.
According to preliminary data, industrial production in Japan declined by 1.8% in July compared to the same period of 2021. This index has been decreasing for five months.
Moreover, the number of housing constructions started in July fell by 5.4%. It was above analysts' expectations, predicting a decline of 4.1%. This index has been falling for three months.
At the same time, Japan's consumer confidence index has been rising. It increased to 32.5 points in August. This is the highest level for three months. The index turned out to be above analysts' expectations. They forecasted its growth to 31 points. Moreover, in July this index was at its lowest level of 30.2 points in a year and a half.
Besides, retail sales rose by 2.4% in July compared to the same period in 2021. This reading was above experts' expectations, who predicted an increase of only 1.9%. This indicator has been rising for five months.
However, Japan's Nikkei 225 index is declining due to a decrease in the share price of its constituent companies. Thus, shares of Inpex fell by 3.5%, Pacific Metals stocks sank by 2.3% and shares of Japan Steel Works lost 2.4%. Sony's stocks were down 1.9%. Shares of Softbank Group and Fast Retailing declined by 0.3% and 0.9% respectively.
Stocks of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor rose among Korea's KOSPI components. They added 1.4% and 0.3% respectively.
Shares of BHP (-2.9%) and Rio Tinto (-0.9%) fell among the components of Australia's S&P/ASX 200. They lost 2.9% and 0.9% respectively.