Asian stock markets close lower on Thursday

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Major Asian stock markets closed Thursday lower following another rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.

On Wednesday, the Fed raised rates by 75 basis points for the third time and signaled more hikes to fight inflation.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, decreased 0.76% or 22.86 points to 3,968.78.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange fell 0.58% or 159.3 points to 27,153.83.

In line with expectations, the Bank of Japan on Thursday kept unchanged its ultra-low interest rates at minus 0.1%, vowing to support economic growth in the country.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government on Thursday intervened to support the weakening yen for the first time since 1998, as the monetary policy gap between Japan and the US widened further.

After having weakened to 145.8 early in the session, the yen strengthened to 142 against the greenback following the intervention.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, dove 1.61%, or 296.7 points, to 18,147.95.

Hong Kong's annual consumer inflation rate was steady at a seven-month high of 1.9% in August, unchanged from a month ago.

China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 0.27% or 8.27 points to 3,108.9 and the Indian Sensex benchmark decreased 0.57% or 337.06 points to 59,119.7.

The Singapore index, on the other hand, went marginally up 0.04% or 1.28 points to finish at 3,263.