News Desk
ISLAMABAD/HONG KONG: Asian stock markets plummeted on Friday as investors mulled over interest rates going higher than expected for an extended period after almost Asian central banks reaffirmed their commitment to bringing down inflation.
Stock markets and higher rates
After a relatively healthy rally in recent weeks, the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank earlier crushed the Christmas spirit by increasing borrowing costs with a warning of more stringent measures in the future.
While inflation has started coming down in major world countries from the peaks seen earlier this year, still they remained at multi-decade highs.
Observers, other the other hand, have warned that economies could be heading for a period of recession where they will go up with stalled growth.
All three main indexes on Wall Street fell on Thursday, with the Nasdaq losing more than 3% as tech companies took another blow, while Paris and Frankfurt were also down more than 3%.
And the losses carried through to Asia, where Tokyo gave up more than 1% while Seoul, Sydney, Taipei, Singapore, Wellington, Jakarta and Manila were also in the red.
On the other hand, the dollar eased back slightly after Thursday’s rally.
