Asian stock indexes dropped sharply during today's session. The Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite lost 0.99% and 1.43% respectively. The Hang Seng Index decreased by 1.37%, the Nikkei 225 declined by 1.58%, the KOSPI fell by 1.23%, and the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.58%. On Wednesday, the FOMC March meeting minutes were released, which indicated that the Federal Reserve was considering raising the Fed funds rate by 50 basis points at its meeting in May. As a result, US stock indexes finished yesterday's session in negative territory. Asian indexes followed suit on Thursday. Investors are concerned about the war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the outbreak of COVID-19 in China. The Chinese government is forced to balance between enacting quarantine measures and overcoming issues plaguing the economy.
On the Hang Seng Index, the worst performing stocks of the session were Wuxi Biologics Inc. (-6.1%), Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC, Ltd. (-5.7%), Haidilao International Holding, Ltd. (-4.7%), ENN Energy Holdings, Ltd. (-4.2%), as well as Techtronic Industries Co., Ltd. (-3.6%). Shares of JD.com Inc. lost 3.4%. On the Nikkei 225, the biggest losers were Advantest Corp. (-5.7%), Tokyo Electron, Ltd. (-5.4%), Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (-5%), Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (-4,6%). Hitachi, Ltd. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. fell by 4.3% and 4.1% respectively. On the KOSPI, LG Corp decreased by 2.1%.
Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. lost 0.6%, despite a strong Q1 forecast. The company estimated that its revenue rose by 17.8%. According to the forecast, Samsung's operating earnings went up by 50.3%. Kia Corp. shares gained 0.3%, while Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd. stock lost 0.3%. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia had a trade surplus of A$7.465 billion (equivalent to $5.61 billion) in February 2022. Economists had expected a surplus of about A$12 billion in February. Imports increased by 12% over the month, while exports rose by only 0.2%. Shares of BHP Group Ltd. and Rio Tinto Ltd. fell by 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.
