Asian shares mostly decline after Wall Street drop on rate cut concerns

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan’s stock princes at a securities firm Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

TOKYO — Asian shares mostly declined Friday after a U.S. Federal Reserve official said the central bank might not deliver any of the interest rate cuts that Wall Street has been banking on this year, citing concerns about inflation.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dove 2 percent to finish at 38,992.08. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6% to 7,773.30. South Korea’s Kospi dropped nearly 1 percent to 2,715.35. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed at 16,729.98.

Tensions in the Middle East added to the sense of pessimism. But some analysts suggested the Fed may cut rates at least once later this year.

“Already there are distinct signs of cooling in economic activity and conditions for sustained wage pressures,” said Tan Jing Yi at Mizuho Bank in Singapore.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 dropped 1.2 percent Thursday for its worst day in seven weeks. Earlier in the day, a gain of nearly 1 percent had brought it to the cusp of its record set last week.

READ: Wall Street falls to worst day in weeks on rate concerns

The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung 530 points lower, or 1.4 percent, after reversing a rise of nearly 300 points. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.4 percent.

Financial markets on edge

Financial markets were already on edge as traders made their final moves ahead of a U.S. jobs report on Friday that could also shake the market.

A late-day spurt for oil prices amid continued tensions in the Middle East unsettled things, threatening to add more pressure on inflation following oil’s strong gains so far this year.

Around the same time, Treasury yields dropped in the bond market, which can be a signal of investors looking for safer harbors, and a measure of fear among U.S. stock investors leaped.

Traders had already drastically scaled back their predictions for how many cuts to interest rates the Federal Reserve would deliver this year, down from six at the start of the year to three more recently. That had them in line with Fed officials generally.

READ: Markets in Q1: The wild ride toward rate cuts

But several recent updates on the economy have come in hotter than expected, beyond some disappointingly high inflation reports at the start of the year that could be seen as temporary blips. A report earlier this week showing a surprise return to growth for U.S. manufacturing raised concerns in particular.

Job market cooling

Wall Street is looking for the job market to cool enough to remove upward pressure on inflation, but not so much that it throws too many people out of work and causes a recession.

READ: US job openings rise slightly; labor market steadily easing

That’s raised the anticipation for a report coming Friday, where the U.S. government will show how much hiring happened across the country last month. Economists expect it to show a cooldown in March from February.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 64.28 points to 5,147.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 530.16 to 38,596.98, and the Nasdaq composite sank 228.38 to 16,049.08.

In the oil market, a barrel of benchmark U.S. oil climbed 34 cents to $86.93 a barrel. It rose $1.16 to settle at $86.59 Thursday. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 48 cents to $91.13.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 151.23 Japanese yen from 151.30 yen. The euro cost $1.0832, down from $1.0841.