The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (-2% to 18,081.19 points) falls to its lowest level since December 2011 on fears related to the rate hike decided in the US with the expected repercussions on consumption and corporate profits, up to the specter of recession.
The Monetary Authority of the former colony has raised rates by 75 basis points, to 3.5%, with immediate effect and in line with the measure adopted by the Fed, bringing the cost of money in the local market to the highest level since the crisis 2008 financial statement. "There is a high probability that Hong Kong will experience negative GDP growth this year," finance secretary Paul Chan warned.
The decision of the Bank of Japan to keep rates steady at very low levels, isolating it even more from the general trend of rises in the world, sends the yen to its lowest level since 1998. The Japanese currency, which has lost 20% since the beginning of the year, marks a drop of 0.9% to 145.3 on the dollar.
A rise in the spread between 10-year German BTPs and Bunds: the differential travels around 225 basis points against 222 at yesterday's closing.
The yield on Treasury product is at 4.15%, after hitting 4.2% on Tuesday, the highest since 2013.
The rate hike by the Federal Reserve and the fear that the monetary tightening will continue weighed down all the Asian and Pacific stock markets, with Hong Kong penalized by the mandatory choice of increasing rates on the local dollar linked to the US one. .
In fact, the stock exchange of the former British colony is about to close down by about two percentage points, while Tokyo (-0.4%) resists after the decision by the Japanese central bank not to change monetary policy with a consequent collapse of the yen to a minimum for 24 years.
There was a slight decline in the Chinese lists (Shanghai -0.3%, Shenzhen -0.4%), with Taiwan down by about one percentage point.
Seoul was also weak (-0.6% at the end), while Sidney closed down sharply, with a final decline of 1.5%.