HONG KONG (AFP) – Asian markets largely fell yesterday after China set an ambitious five per cent annual growth target and Wall Street shares dropped ahead of the release of key United States (US) economic indicators.
Tokyo finished flat, a day after Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index hit a record high, closing above 40,000 points for the first time.
Wall Street retreated on Monday as investors locked in profits after recent rallies fuelled by tech optimism.
In China yesterday, leaders set a 2024 growth target of five per cent, in line with last year’s gross domestic product gains.
On Wall Street, analysts attributed the pullback to a wait-and-see attitude to a heavy news week that includes US jobs data, congressional testimony from Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell, and a European Central Bank (ECB) decision.
“Ahead of a bevy of potentially market-moving events highlighted by Chair Powell’s speech on Capitol Hill and the forever closely monitored US Non-Farm Payroll, the US market rally stalled to begin the week,” Innes said.
Most expect highly anticipated US rate cuts to start later this year, as Fed officials have voiced caution about trimming too soon while they await further inflation data.
The ECB is expected to keep interest rates unchanged again at a regular meeting tomorrow, analysts said, as officials want to ensure inflation is on a clear downward path.
Hong Kong stocks closed down 2.6 per cent and Shanghai finished higher yesterday.
Sydney, Seoul, Mumbai, Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore, Manila and Kuala Lumpur were down, while Wellington was up.
London, Frankfurt and Paris opened lower.
