Today, the Hang Seng Index posted the largest decline of today's Asian trading session, decreasing by 1.86%. All other indicators lost up to 1%. The Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite fell by 0.63% and 0.48% respectively. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.19%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 decreased by 0.42%. The KOSPI slid down by 0.55%.
Market participants are avoiding risk ahead of the next Fed meeting, which will take place this week. Most analysts believe the regulator is likely to raise the interest rate by 0.5% to a target range of 4.25-4.5% instead of a 0.75% hike seen earlier. In addition, investors are awaiting the release of inflation data in the US and the results of the ECB and Bank of England policy meetings.
The situation regarding COVID-19 in China remains a key factor. Beijing has recently decided to ease quarantine restrictions.
On the Hang Seng Index, shares of Country Garden Services Holdings, Co. Ltd., tumbled by 16.6%, Longfor Group Holdings, Ltd. declined by 10.5%, and Sunny Optical Technology Group, Co. Ltd. dropped by 10.6%.
Shares of major Japanese companies suffered losses as well, such as Rakuten Group, Inc. (-2.7%), Nikon, Corp. (-2.4%), and Pacific Metals, Co. Ltd. (-2.3%).
Tokyo Electron, Ltd. showed a slightly smaller decline, shedding 0.8%, while Advantest, Corp. and Renesas Electronics, Corp. decreased by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
In South Korea, shares on the KOSPI were mixed, with Samsung Electronics, Co. falling by 1.3% and Hyundai Motor adding 0.3%.
On the S&P/ASX 200, BHP declined by 1.45% and Rio Tinto fell by 0.7%.
