SINGAPORE — Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mixed on Thursday as investors continued to monitor recession concerns.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pared early gains to sit close to the flatline.
Mainland Chinese markets reversed course to trade lower. The Shanghai Composite was almost flat, and the Shenzhen Component was 0.562% lower.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.13%, and the Topix was down slightly.
South Korea’s Kospi gave up its gains to fall 0.65%, and the Kosdaq declined 1.48%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.22% higher.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.41%.
In economic data, Singapore is set to release its inflation numbers on Thursday.
After a bounce on Tuesday, U.S. stocks traded lower overnight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 47.12 points, or 0.15%, to 30,483.13. The S&P 500 slipped 0.13% to 3,759.89. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.15% at 11,053.08.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday told Congress that the central bank is “strongly committed to bringing inflation back down.” Inflation has hit 40-year highs in the U.S.
“It’s not our intended outcome at all, but [a recession is] certainly a possibility, and frankly the events of the last few months around the world have made it more difficult for us to achieve what we want, which is 2% inflation and still a strong labor market,” Powell said, nonetheless adding that he believes the economy is strong for now.
“Recession or hard landing fears have taken a firmer hold on most markets in the past 24 hours,” Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank, wrote in a note.
He said no particular events drove the market moves on Wednesday, and commentators largely pointed to “deepening recession fears.”
Oil falls around 3%
Oil futures declined in Asia trade. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, fell 3.19% to $108.17 per barrel. U.S. crude futures fell 3.52% to $102.45 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 104.233.
The Japanese yen traded at 135.79 per dollar. It weakened to 136 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was at $0.6886 after falling from above $0.702 last week.
