Stock markets slumped with Asian stocks falling ahead of the release of Chinese economic data and U.S. inflation readings, adding to investors ’concerns about global growth.
US consumer price index (CPI) data readings, which jumped 8.6%, hinted the Federal Reserve (Fed) may be more aggressive in raising interest rates this weekend.
It indirectly sparked concerns about world economic growth, causing investors to shift from equities towards safer investments.
As a result, Wall Street trading saw the Dow Jones Industrial average index fall 880 points (2.7%) to 31,392.8, the S&P 500 lost 117 points (2.9%) to 3,900.8 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 414.2 points (3.5%) to 11,340.
Meanwhile, China is expected to publish its industrial production and retail sales data for May on Wednesday which adds to investor concerns in addition to the anticipation of the Fed’s announcement.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.4% as shares of conglomerate firm SoftBank Group fell 4.58% while South Korea's Kospi fell 4.58%.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan was down 0.53%.
In the bond market, the US 10 -year note hit a new 4 -year high of 3.159%.
Meanwhile, the dollar index which measures a number of other currencies rose at 104.476 while the Japanese Yen declined against the dollar at 134.67 and the Australian dollar depreciated at $ 0.7014.
Oil prices during the Asian trading session were seen declining with Brent crude futures down 1.9% at $ 119.69 while US crude futures were down 1.96% at $ 118.31.
