by On Thursday, Asia-Pacific markets across the board seemed to be trading lower, after a cooldown in the latest rally on Wall Street overnight.
Moreover, the minutes of the July meeting of the US Fed gave little indication that there was a drop in inflation pressures.
Markets tumble
There was a 0.21% drop in the S&P/ASX 200, which closed at 7,112.8, while a 1% drop was also recorded in the Nikkei 225 index in Japan to reach 28,942.14.
A 0.82% drop was also seen in the Topix index, which saw it come down to 1,990.5, while a 0.3% drop was recorded in the Kospi index that closing it at 2,508.05.
There was also a decline in mainland Chinese markets. A 0.46% drop in the Shanghai Composite brought it down to 3,277.54 and a 0.62% fall in the Shenzhen Component saw it reach 12,517.32.
There was also a 0.8% drop in the Hang Seng Hong Kong index. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Adrian Orr said that they were confident inflation was on a decline.
The central bank hiked interest rates on Thursday by 50 basis points. The governor stated that they were not completely out of the woods, but did have time on their side.
Philippine’s central bank
The Philippine central bank also followed the same track and increased interest rates by 50 basis points. The new rate has now reached 3.75%.
The bank had taken the markets by surprise in July when it had increased interest rates by 75 basis points. It had also said that it could hike more in order to control inflation and to support a falling peso.
Tencent matters
Tencent’s quarterly sales declined on Wednesday after markets closed. The company stated that its earnings had suffered because of a lack of regulations and game approvals, which had limited playing time
In addition, ad sales had also suffered because of a weak economy. Shares of Tencent rose by 3.1% on Thursday.
The company also denied that it had sold its stake in Meituan, the Chinese food delivery giant, but it could divest some of the smaller businesses.
Profit warning from Country Garden
A profit warning was issued by Chinese developer Country Garden, as its project that the first half of the year’s net profit would be lower than that of last year.
Estimates showed that its net profit would be between 4,500 million yuan and 5,000 million yuan, which was lower than the 15 billion yuan last year.
According to a company, a decline in property sales is responsible for the fall in profit, along with foreign exchange losses and a higher provision for impairment for property projects.
According to a company statement, the board believes that non-cash factors were the ones that had taken a toll on the company’s profits.
Moreover, they also added that there is sufficient cash available and the developer’s cash flow is also stable, which means that their operations are in good condition.
