Current:Home > BackStock market today: Asia shares mostly decline after Wall Street slide on bank worries-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Stock market today: Asia shares mostly decline after Wall Street slide on bank worries
View Date:2024-12-23 23:23:08
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly fell Wednesday after worries about the U.S. banking system set off a decline on Wall Street and amid concerns closer to home about Chinese economic growth.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.5% to 32,232.60 in afternoon trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.3% to 7,329.10. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.3% to 2,606.84. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.3% to 19,134.00, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.4% to 3,247.91.
Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, called the export data out of China “rather alarming,” noting it was the sharpest decline in three years and reflected global economic challenges, not just in China.
“Global demand is falling precipitously,” he said.
“It is now very likely we will all be surprised by just how intense this global economic slowdown becomes. The three major economies of the world — U.S., China and the EU — are leading the downward charge.”
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 19.06, or 0.4%, to 4,499.38 and at one point was down nearly three times that. It was the fifth loss in the last six days for the index after it rocketed through the year’s first seven months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 158.64, or 0.4%, to 35,314.49 after paring an earlier loss of 465 points. The Nasdaq composite lost 110.07, or 0.8%, to 13,884.32.
In the U.S., bank stocks fell after Moody’s cut the credit ratings for 10 smaller and midsized ones. It cited a list of concerns about their financial strength, from the effects of higher interest rates to the work-from-home trend that’s leaving office buildings vacant.
The Federal Reserve has hiked its main interest rate to the highest level in more than two decades in hopes of grinding down inflation. High rates work by slowing the entire economy bluntly, which has raised the risk of a recession.
The much higher rates have hit banks particularly hard.
While downgrading credit ratings for 10 banks and putting six others under review, Moody’s said the rapid rise in rates has led to conditions that hurt profits for the broad industry.
Higher rates also knock down the value of investments that banks made when rates were super low. Such conditions helped cause three high-profile failures for U.S. banks this past spring, which shook confidence in the system.
Later this week, the U.S. government will release data on consumer and wholesale inflation, which could influence what the Federal Reserve does next with interest rates.
The hope on Wall Street is that the cooldown in inflation since it topped 9% last summer will help persuade the Fed no more rate hikes are needed. Economists expect Thursday’s data to show consumer prices rose by 3.3% in July over a year ago, an acceleration from June’s inflation rate of 3%.
But some economists and investors say getting inflation down that last bit to the Fed’s target of 2% is likely to be the most difficult. They’re saying that Wall Street has become convinced too quickly about a “soft landing” coming for the economy and that the 19.5% run for the S&P 500 through the first seven months of this year was overdone.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude slipped 16 cents to $82.76 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 14 cents to $86.03 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 143.13 Japanese yen from 143.36 yen. The euro cost $1.0979, up from $1.0960.
——
AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
veryGood! (1857)
Related
- Should Georgia bench Carson Beck with CFP at stake against Tennessee? That's not happening
- Marcus Freeman explains why Notre Dame had 10 players on field for Ohio State's winning TD
- First refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh arrive in Armenia following Azerbaijan’s military offensive
- Russian airstrikes kill 2 and wound 3 in southern Ukraine as war enters 20th month
- At age 44, Rich Hill's baseball odyssey continues - now with Team USA
- WEOWNCOIN︱Driving Financial Revolution
- Spain's Carlota Ciganda delivers dream finish as Europe retains Solheim Cup
- Usher to headline the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show in Las Vegas
- The Daily Money: Mattel's 'Wicked' mistake
- Student loan borrowers face plenty of questions, budget woes, as October bills arrive
Ranking
- How Jersey Shore's Sammi Sweetheart Giancola's Fiancé Justin May Supports Her on IVF Journey
- AI Intelligent One-Click Trading: Innovative Experience on WEOWNCOIN Exchange
- Bachelor Nation's Dean Unglert Marries Caelynn Miller-Keyes
- Third Republican presidential debate to be held in Miami on Nov. 8
- Powerball winning numbers for Nov. 9 drawing: Jackpot rises to $92 million
- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy calls on Sen. Robert Menendez to resign in wake of indictment
- The Halloween Spirit: How the retailer shows up each fall in vacant storefronts nationwide
- AI Intelligent One-Click Trading: Innovative Experience on WEOWNCOIN Exchange
Recommendation
-
Benny Blanco Reveals Selena Gomez's Rented Out Botanical Garden for Lavish Date Night
-
Hollywood writers reach a tentative deal with studios after nearly five month strike
-
EU commissioner calls for more balanced trade with China and warns that Ukraine could divide them
-
Sean Payton, Broncos left reeling after Dolphins dole out monumental beatdown
-
Chipotle unveils cilantro-scented soap, 'water' cup candles in humorous holiday gift line
-
Bachelor Nation's Becca Kufrin Gives Birth to First Baby With Thomas Jacobs
-
Bachelor Nation's Dean Unglert Marries Caelynn Miller-Keyes
-
Inside Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's Disney-Themed Baby Shower