Stock markets in Asia saw a mix on Thursday following the minutes from the Federal Reserve's recent meeting which has expected more interest rate rise.
In Hong Kong and Sydney, benchmarks saw a decline; however, Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul faced a jump. Oil prices increased as well. Economic activities will be held down as a result.
Interest rate surge in the U.S. and other western countries has concerned investors. They are also upset over the negative impacts from the Russian attack and a fast slowdown in the Chinese economy.
The report from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday indicated 0.5-percentage-point hikes supported by board members. The majority of board members in this month meeting approved that 0.5-percentage-point rise to the benchmark short-term rate of Federal would probably be convenient.
In a report, however, no bigger rise was mentioned, according to Anderson Alves of ActivTrades.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 grew below 0.1% to 26,689.00 but the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.4% to 3,111.17. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.6% to 20,053.50.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI rose 0.5% to 2,630.34, Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 declined 0.4% to 7,126.20, and indexes of New Zealand and Singapore saw a jump. Bangkok SET Index went down, though.
The benchmark S&P 500 index, on Wall Street, increased 0.9% to 3,978.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 32,120.28. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5% to 11,434.74.
Energy market wise, benchmark U.S. crude oil increased 58 cents to $110.91 a barrel in electronics business on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). In the previous meeting, it increased to $110.33.
In London, Brent crude rose to 44 cents to $111.56 per barrel. In the previous session, Brent crude boosted 47 cents the previous session to $114.13 per barrel.
As for currencies, the dollar approached to 127.36 yen (from 127.32 yen) and the euro advanced to $1.0698 (from $1.0688).