Asian Stocks Fall, U.S. Markets End Worst Month Since September
Asian stocks fell on Wednesday, with most markets in the region closed for a holiday. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks closed out their worst month since September.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.4%, down to 38,271.77. This comes after the country's factory activity experienced a milder shrink in April. The manufacturing purchasing managers' index from au Jibun Bank rose to 49.6 in April from 48.2 in March. A PMI reading under 50 represents a contraction, and a reading of 50 indicates no change.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.1% to 7,581.90. Other markets in the region were closed due to the Labor Day holiday.
U.S. stocks also had a rough day on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 tumbling 1.6% to cement its first losing month in the last six. It ended at 5,035.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5% to 37,815.92, and the Nasdaq composite lost 2% to 15,657.82.
Stocks began sinking as soon as trading began, after a report showed U.S. workers won bigger gains in wages and benefits than expected during the first three months of the year. While that's good news for workers and the latest signal of a solid job market, it feeds into worries that upward pressure remains on inflation.
This follows a string of reports this year that have shown inflation remains stubbornly high. That's caused traders to largely give up on hopes that the Federal Reserve will deliver multiple cuts to interest rates this year. And that in turn has sent Treasury yields jumping in the bond market, which has cranked up the pressure on stocks.
No one expects the Federal Reserve to change its main interest rate at this meeting. But traders are anxious about what Fed Chair Jerome Powell may say about the rest of the year.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.69% Wednesday from 4.61%.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 75 cents to $81.18 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 65 cents to $85.68 a barrel.
In currency trading, the euro cost $1.0655, down from $1.0663.