Asia-Pacific markets closed mostly higher, with South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumping to fresh records.
The Nikkei 225 barreled higher 1,151.24 points, or 1.7%, to 71,053.49.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 387.35 points, or 1.6%, to 23,924.81.
Korean markets rose. with index heavyweight SK Hynix advancing 6.51% to notch a fresh high, while Samsung Electronics rose 4.62%. The small-cap Kosdaq index declined over 3%.
Wall Street sold off Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first meeting with Kevin Warsh as chairman raised worries about monetary policy going forward.
Policymakers’ “dot plot” revealed that several Fed officials now see interest rates increasing in 2026.
The median estimate for the year-end interest rate now stands at 3.8%, up from 3.4% in prior projections from March, suggesting that at least one rate hike could be in the picture in 2026.
Complicating the forecast was Warsh’s decision to abstain from submitting a rate forecast.
In other markets;
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 index inched up 10.21 points, or 0.2%, to 4,941.60.
In Taiwan, the Taiex gathered 587.81 points, or 1.3%, to 46,465.20
In Korea, the Kospi index gained 199.60 points, or 2.3%, to 9,063.84.
In Singapore, the Straits Times 50 index took on 36.38 points, or 0.7%, to 5,212.84
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 shed 29.68 points, or 0.2%, to 13,363.31.
In Australia, the ASX docked 55.2 points, or 0.6%, to 8,911.10.
