The Asia-Pacific stock markets have once again, demonstrated strong performance. The latest Wednesday trading session has been fortunate for the Asia-Pacific markets.
The positive performance of the Asian markets is due to the positive performance of Wall Street stocks. It is the second day in a row that Wall Street stocks have recorded strong gains.
This is because the inflation prints are starting to show signs of cooling. The cooling of the inflation rates is better than expected, which is a good sign for the stock markets.
With confidence coming back to the traders, the stock markets will start feeling a positive impact. For several weeks, the general performance of the global stock markets has been in a positive direction.
This is all because the countries have started focusing on their inflation rates and implementing the right tactics and practices.
Hong Kong Stock Markets
From Hong Kong and China, the top-performing index is the Hang Seng Index. The Hong Kong stock index recorded a 0.6% surge in the final trading hours on Wednesday.
From Mainland China, the Shanghai Composite has recorded a 0.1% dip while the Shenzhen Component has also recorded a dip. The particular index recorded a 0.2% fall in the Wednesday session.
The mainland Chinese markets have recorded a dip because of the Feds’ meeting that has been delayed. The reason behind the delay is indeed the rise in the COVID-19 virus in the country.
The coronavirus has become a curse for China that the country has been trying to get rid of but without any success. The country has been dealing with the situation for a while and it seems there is no end to it.
If the COVID cases start rising again, then China will have no choice but to reinforce the old strict measures to control the spread. This would again push China’s economy into a corner.
This would result in a major downfall in the Chinese economy, rendering it unrecoverable for a long time.
Japanese and South Korean Stock Indexes
The Japanese Topix stock index has recorded a 0.6% pump, which is a positive sign for the country. After the surge, the particular index has seen its score rise to a high of 1,977.42.
Another stock index from Japan, the Nikkei 225 has also recorded a huge surge, better than Topix to be precise. The particular index has recorded a 0.72% surge in the recent trading session.
The Topix index has also added many points, rising up to 28,156.21.
The S&P/ASX 200 index from Australia has also recorded significant gains in the Wednesday trading session. It has reportedly surged to 7,251.3 after recording 0.67% gains.
All Eyes are on the Feds
At present, investors are anxious to see what the US Feds are going to decide about the interest rate hikes.
The expectation among the investors is that the interest rates will be hiked by the Feds. However, the Feds had already communicated that they will be lowering the interest rates in January 2023.
However, the hotter-than-expected data revealed by the Feds for inflation has compelled investors to think otherwise.
They are anticipating a 75 bps surge in the interest rates, which would make it a fifth-consecutive 75 bps surge in the interest rates.
The meeting between the Feds is going to take two days and it is by the end of the meeting the Feds will communicate their decision.
If the Feds stick with their promise, then a 50 bps rate hike will be witnessed otherwise, it would be 75 bps.
There is another possibility that the Feds may announce a temporary halt on the interest rate hikes.
This is because analysts and market experts are predicting any further rate hikes may push the economy into recession.
The Feds may take that factor into consideration as well, as they decide what they are going to do with the interest rates.
