Major Asian indices posted losses of up to 1.7% after yesterday's uptrend. The only indexes which closed in positive territory were the Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite, which edged up by 0.01% and 0.07%, respectively. Other indices decreased: the Hang Seng Index fell by 0.61%, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped by 0.77%, and the Nikkei 225 slid down by 0.96%. The KOSPI was the worst performing index, shedding 1.7%.
As usual, Asian markets followed US indices, which had declined the day before. The downtrend was triggered by the latest US GDP data for the last quarter. Although GDP increased by 3.2% and exceeded the preliminary estimates of 2.6% and 2.9%, market participants were anxious about the harsh monetary policy measures taken by the Federal Reserve. A stronger economy could lead the Fed to raise its key interest rate even higher. This, in turn, may result in the economic downturn that all investors fear.
Meanwhile, Japanese consumer prices rose by 3.8% last month from the same period in 2021 hitting its highest level in 30 years. In October, inflation stood at 3.7%. Core CPI, which excluded food, climbed by 3.7% in November from 3.6% in September, reaching the highest level in four decades. The index exceeded the central regulator's 2% target for the eighth month in a row.
Shares of Japan's biggest companies plunged, with Advantest, Corp. down by 4.5%, Tokyo Electron, Ltd. dropping by 3.8% and Sapporo Holdings, Ltd. declining by 3.4%.
Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan Motor posted slightly smaller losses of 2.5% and 2%, respectively, while Toyota Motor and Mazda Motor declined by 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
At the same time other Japanese stocks increased: shares of Kansai Electric Power rose by 5.7%, Tokyo Electric Power gained 4.2%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Chiba Bank added 2.8% and 1.8% respectively.
On the Hang Seng Index, Alibaba Health Information Technology fell by 5.1%, BYD and Geely lost 4.5% and 3.3% respectively. Netease dropped 3%, while Xiaomi and JD.com lost 2.5% and 2.3% respectively.
The KOSPI was dragged down by falling stocks of major companies, with Samsung Electronics down by 1.9% and Hyundai Motor retreating by 0.6%.
The largest Australian companies also posted losses. GUD Holdings dropped by 5.6%, Star Entertainment Group slid down by 4.8%, Xero and Seek lost 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively. Computershare and BHP dropped by 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively.