Asian stocks higher after Wall St declines on growth worries

Asian stocks higher after Wall St declines on growth worries

SeattlePI.com

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BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly higher Thursday after the Federal Reserve chairman said the U.S. central bank wants to avoid causing a recession but one is possible as it raises interest rates to cool surging inflation.

Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced. Seoul declined. Oil prices fell $2 per barrel to near $100.

The Fed doesn’t want to “provoke a recession,” but one is possible due to rate hikes to cool inflation that is running at a four-decade high, chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday, talking to members of Congress.

“It’s not our intended outcome, but it’s certainly a possibility," Powell said.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.1% after swinging between a gain of 1% and a loss of 1.3% during the day.

"The market now accepts recession is a risk, having been in total denial," said Michael Every of Rabobank in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% to 3,285.99 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.2% to 26,191.97. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 1% to 21,209.09.

The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.6% to 2,327.73 while Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 6,534.10.

India's Sensex opened up 1.1% at 10,799.50. New Zealand, Singapore and Bangkok advanced while Jakarta fell.

Last week, the Fed raised its benchmark rate by three quarters of a percentage point, three times its usual margin and the biggest increase in nearly three decades.

Investors worry U.S. and European rate hikes might derail global growth, but Powell said it is “absolutely essential” that the Fed restore stable prices.

“We now anticipate the most aggressive and synchronized tightening cycle" by global central banks since the 1980s, said Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics in a report. “The key question now...

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