Asian markets declined significantly during Thursday's session. The Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite lost 0.88% and 1.55% respectively, while the Hang Seng Index decreased by 2.39%. In South Korea, the KOSPI fell by 3.03%. The Nikkei 225 declined by 3.1% and in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped by 1.93%.
Investors awaited the results of the Federal Reserve meeting, which concluded yesterday. The regulator stated an interest rate hike would be likely in the future, though Fed chairman Jerome Powell did not give a specific date for the increase. QE tapering would be reduced in February to $30 billion per month from the current rate of $60 billion per month. The Fed would fully wind down the asset purchase program in March - according to the regulator, the US economy no longer requires massive stimulus.
The profits of major Chinese industrial enterprises increased by 34.3% to 8.71 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) compared to 2020. State-owned companies reported a 56% profit growth, while the profits of private companies rose by 27.6%.
On the Hang Seng Index, Meituan lost 7.2%, Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. dropped by 6.1%, and JD.com Inc. decreased by 4.3%.
The worst performing stocks on the Nikkei 225 were SoftBank Group Corp. (-8.6%), Sony Group Corp. (-7.4%), and Advantest Corp. (-6.7%).
Shares of Samsung Electronics lost 2.2%, despite company revenues rising to 5-year high. Samsung's revenues reached $11.6 billion thanks to rising demand for microchips. Among other companies on the KOSPI, Kia Corp., Hyundai Motor Co., and LG Corp lost 1%, 1.6%, and 3.5% respectively.
In Australia, shares of Woodside Petroleum, Ltd. gained 2.5% on the news of the company ceasing operations in Myanmar due to human rights violations in the country. Codan, Ltd lost 10.2%, Wisetech Global Ltd slumped by 10%, Zip Co., Ltd dropped by 9.7%, and Altium, Ltd declined by 7.1%.
