Fear of Fed tightening send Asian stock markets plummeting

Sydney In the wake of another weak Wall Street, the Asian stock exchanges moved down on Wednesday. In Tokyo, the leading index Nikkei fell by 0.4 percent to 28,091 points. The broader Topix index fell 0.3 percent.

The Shanghai stock exchange fell 0.4 percent. The index of major companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen gained 0.3 percent.

Fears of sharp interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve had spoiled US investors’ appetite for riskier assets. “Japanese stocks fell after a third straight day of losses on Wall Street, but rebounding US futures capped the decline,” said Maki Sawada, strategist at Nomura Securities.

Meanwhile, better-than-expected Japanese industrial production data had little impact on investors, Sawada added. Technology stocks and stocks from the energy sector in particular were sold after oil prices had recently fallen.