Asia-Pacific markets were lower on Wednesday after Wall Street’s sharp losses overnight, and New Zealand’s central bank continued to hike its benchmark interest rate.
The Nikkei 225 index plummeted 368.78 points, or 1.3%, to 27,104.32, as the nation’s producer price index rose 1.6% on an annualized basis.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was in the minus column 105.65 points, or 0.5%, to 20,423.84. Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the economy shrank by 3.5% in 2022.
South Korea’s central bank is expected to hold its interest rate at 3.5% Thursday, according to a Reuters poll of 41 economists. The South Korean won weakened marginally on Wednesday, trading at 1,305.17 against the U.S. dollar.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand hiked rates by 50 basis points to 4.75%, the highest in over 14 years, to tame inflation. The New Zealand dollar gained 0.21% to stand at 0.6226 against the U.S. dollar.
In Australia, indexes closed lower as the nation saw its wage price index for the fourth quarter of 2022 come in lower than estimates.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 fell 37.4 points, or 0.9%, to 4,106.95.
In Korea, the Kospi stumbled 41.28 points, or 1.7%, to 2,417.68.
In Singapore, the Straits Times dipped 6.82 points, or 0.2%, to 3,300.04.
In Taiwan, the Taiex flopped 144.23 points, or 0.9%, to 15,418.77.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 handed back 7.27 points, or 0.1%, to 11,794.22.
In Australia, the ASX 200 slid 21.79 points, or 0.3%, to 7,314.50.
