Asian benchmarks decline after bear market hits Wall Street

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares fell across the board Tuesday after Wall Street tumbled into a bear market, indicating that major U.S. benchmarks and individual stocks have fallen 20% or more from a recent high for a sustained period of time.

Benchmarks fell in Japan, Australia, South Korea and China. The Japanese yen's continuing slide against the dollar paused.

At the center of the selloff was the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is scrambling to get inflation under control. Its main method is to raise interest rates, a blunt tool that could slow the economy too much and risk a recession if used too aggressively.

Some economists are speculating the Fed on Wednesday may raise its key rate by three-quarters of a percentage point. That’s triple the usual amount and something the Fed hasn’t done since 1994.

“Another day to digest the recent U.S. inflation data, and another day closer to the June FOMC meeting, and global markets, we well as those here in Asia have been demonstrating that they don’t like where the global economy sits right now,” Robert Carnell, regional head of research Asia-Pacific at ING, said in a report.

Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 1.8% to 26,496.91. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 4.3% to 6,634.00 after reopening from a holiday on Monday. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.0% to 2,479.83. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.4% to 20,990.98, while the Shanghai Composite edged down 1.2% to 3,217.72.

Adding to worries about the fragile Japanese economy is the sliding yen, recently at 135, the lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1998. The U.S. dollar rose to 134.62 Japanese yen from 134.46 yen, as the yen's weakness was mitigated somewhat by Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's comments expressing concern about its decline.

The euro cost $1.0426, up from $1.0409.

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