Stocks mixed in Asia after Dow enters bear market

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Stocks mixed in Asia after Dow enters bear market

After closing lower on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell into what is known as a bear market, stocks were mixed in Asia on Tuesday.

The week started with a bout of selling amid an extended slump for many markets. The S&P 500 benchmark is down more than 7% in September.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index NIK, picked up 0.8% and the S&P ASX 200 XJO added 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite Index, or SHCOMP, went up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index, HSI, fell 0.9%. The Kospi 180721, in Seoul, lost 0.9%. Stocks fell higher in Taiwan Y 9999, but fell in Singapore STI, Malaysia FBMKLCI and Indonesia JAKIDX. Stocks have been sagging due to concerns over stubbornly hot inflation and the risk that central banks could trigger recessions as they try to cool high prices for everything from food to clothing.

The Federal Reserve is known for its aggressive interest rate hikes, which has attracted investors to its aggressive interest rate hikes. In the past few days, markets have been roiled by volatility in currency markets.

The British pound fell to an all-time low against the dollar on Monday and investors continued to dump British government bonds in displeasure over a tax cut plan announced in London last week.

The Japanese yen JPYUSD, edged toward 145 to the dollar early Tuesday. The Bank of Japan intervened in the market last week after the yen fell past 145, gaining a brief reprieve. The surge against other currencies is putting pressure on the BOJ and other central banks, especially in developing economies that are facing growing costs for repaying foreign loans.

The pound was at $1.0765, up from $1.0686 late Monday. The dollar bought 144.49 yen, down from 144.65 yen, and the euro rose to 96.29 cents from 96.10 cents.

The companies are nearing the close of the third quarter and investors are waiting for the next round of earnings reports. That will give them a better sense of how companies are dealing with persistent inflation.

There are several economic reports that are on tap for this week that will give more details on consumer spending, the jobs market, and the overall health of the U.S. economy.

The latest consumer confidence report, for September, from the business group The Conference Board, will be released on Tuesday. The government will release its weekly report on unemployment benefits on Thursday, along with an updated report on second-quarter gross domestic product.

On Friday, the government will release a report on personal income and spending that will give more details on how inflation is hurting consumer spending.

The Fed raised its benchmark rate, which affects many consumer and business loans last week, in order to make borrowing more expensive and crimp spending more expensive. It is now sitting at a range of 3% to 3.25%. It was close to zero at the beginning of the year. The Fed released a forecast that the benchmark rate could be 4.4% by the end of the year, a full point higher than envisioned in June.

The U.S. economy is already slowing down, raising fears that rate hikes could cause a recession. The Dow DJIA, the last of the major U.S. stock indexes to fall into what is known as a bear market Monday, fell 1.1% to 29,260. The Dow is now 20.5% lower than the all-time high set on Jan. 4. Wall Street calls the bear market a drop of 20% or more from a recent peak.

The S&P 500 SPX fell 1% to 3,655. The Nasdaq COMP dropped 0.6% to 10,802. The U.S. benchmark crude CLX 22, added 28 cents to $76.99 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It sank $2.03 to $76.71 on Monday.

Brent crude BRNX 22, used for pricing international oils, rose 32 cents to $83.18 per barrel.