SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific fell in Thursday morning trade following an overnight plunge on Wall Street that wiped out the S&P 500’s 2021 gains and left it in negative territory for the year.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 2.01% in early trade while the Topix index shed 1.81%. South Korea’s Kospi also fell 1.77%.
Shares in Australia fell in morning trade, with the S&P/ASX 200 dropping 2.27%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares traded 0.78% lower.
The moves in Asia-Pacific came on the back of overnight losses stateside, with the S&P 500 falling 2.6% to close at 3,750.77 — its biggest drop in three months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its worst day since Oct. 28, plummeting 633.87 points to finish its trading day at 30,303.17. The Nasdaq Composite shed 2.6% to close at 13,270.60.
The U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate anchored near zero following the conclusion of its two-day meeting Wednesday. The Fed also said it will keep buying at least $120 billion of bonds a month.
In his post-meeting news conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said: “The economy is a long way from our monetary policy and inflation goals, and it’s likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved.”
Stocks to watch
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.647 after an earlier jump from levels below 90.3.
The Japanese yen traded at 104.17 per dollar after weakening from levels below 103.8 against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7646 following yesterday’s slip from levels above $0.772.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC