Fear of Fed tightening send Asian stock markets plummeting

Sydney The fear of interest rate hikes that would weaken the economy drove investors to the Asian stock exchanges to flee again on Thursday. In Tokyo, the leading index Nikkei lost 1.5 percent to 27,661 points. The broader Topix index fell 1.4 percent.

“August was a terrible month for equity funds, which failed to generate diversification gains from a portfolio of stocks and bonds,” wrote Rodrigo Catril of National Australia Bank (NAB). For this month, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had prepared investors for further rate hikes to fight inflation – even if this will hurt households and companies.