Asian Stock Markets Close Mixed On Fed's Hawkish Tone Amid Rising Inflation

Asian stocks on Wednesday closed the day with gains, except for China's Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Indian Sensex benchmark.

Markets remained concerned that aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks could drag economies into recession in a high inflationary environment.

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the bank will continue to raise interest rates until inflation falls, saying, "We should see inflation come down clearly and convincingly. If we don't see this, then we will have to think about acting more aggressively."

The lack of new COVID-19 cases for three days outside quarantine zones in China supported the risk appetite, but falling housing prices pointed to continued fragilities in the real estate sector, which has debt rollover problems.

In the first quarter, Japan's economy contracted 1% on an annual basis for the first time in two years.

With these developments, the Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, was up 20.28 points, or 0.61%, to 3,346.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange rose 251.45 points, or 0.94%, to 26,911 points.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, jumped 41.76 points, or 0.20%, to 20,644.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange lost 7.72 points, or 0.25%, to close at 3,085 points.

The Indian Sensex benchmark dropped 77.74 points, or 0.14%, to end the day at 54,240 points, while Singapore index climbed 23.46 points, or 0.73%, to finish at 3,225 points. -