Shares in Asia Open Lower amid Mounting Rate Hike Concerns

Shares in Asia-Pacific markets opened negative on Tuesday after major indexes in the U.S. Wall Street had their worst day since June amid hiking rate rise fears.

As of 9:34 a.m. Thai time, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.71%. The Shanghai Composite in mainland China fell 0.36%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.22%, while South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.89%. S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 0.55%.

West Texas Intermediate futures were 0.85% higher, while Brent futures were 0.83% higher, as Saudi Arabia said OPEC+ may be forced to cut production to stabilize a volatile market.

Investors are waiting to see how markets react to a big drop on Wall Street overnight, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 600 points in its worst day since June, as the summer surge faded and expectations of rapid interest rate hikes returned. Similarly, the S&P 500 lost 2% of its value.

“There was a big hit to risk appetite in what was a night devoid of any top tier data. Instead markets are apprehensive ahead of US Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole speech,” Tapas Strickland of National Australia Bank said in a Tuesday note.