Asian shares track Wall St drop as inflation fears drag on

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares skidded in Asia on Wednesday after another broad decline on Wall Street as markets remain gripped by uncertainty over inflation, rising interest rates and the potential for a recession.

U.S. futures edged higher while oil prices fell back.

A weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence reading highlighted worsening consumer expectations due to persistently high inflation.

That “dragged equities lower as sentiment soured for risky assets," Anderson Alves of ActivTrades, said in a commentary.

Investors are awaiting comments later in the day by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other top central bankers, he said.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9% to 26,804.60 while the Kospi in Seoul fell 0.8% to 2,377.99. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 2.4% to 21,891.43. The Shanghai Composite index sank 1.4% to 3,361.52.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.9% to 6,675.57. Bangkok's SET lost 0.5% and India's Sensex was down 0.3%.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 ended 2% lower at 3,821.55, while the Dow dropped 1.6% to 30,946.99. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 3% to 11,181.54.

The Russell 2000 gave up 1.9% to 1,738.84. The indexes are all on pace to for losses of 6% or more in June.

Roughly 85% of the stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 closed in the red. Technology, communications and health care stocks accounted for a big share of the decline. Retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending also helped pull the index lower. Energy stocks, the only sector in the index to notch gains this year, rose as crude oil prices headed higher.

Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index fell in June to its lowest level in more than a year, results that were much weaker than economists expected.

Investors face a pervasive list of...