WORLD NEWS | Asian markets rise after Wall Street falls on recession fears

BEIJING, Jan. 20 (AP) Asian shares rose on Friday as losses on Wall Street deepened on growing fears that the U.S. economy is headed toward recession.

Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong lead the way. Seoul refused. rising oil prize.

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Traders worry that the Federal Reserve and other central banks may be willing to push Western economies into recession as they try to curb inflation that is at multi-decade highs.

Federal Reserve board member Lyle Brainard and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde separately confirmed plans on Thursday to keep interest rates high, even as markets hoped the central bank might scale back on signs that economic activity may be cooling.

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“This again means more rate hikes followed by a prolonged pause, rather than an imminent reversal priced in by the market,” Rabobank said in a note.

The Shanghai Composite rose 0.6 percent to 3,260.04, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained less than 0.1 percent to 26,411.94. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.9 percent to 21,844.98.

Seoul’s Kospi rose 0.2 percent to 2,384.47, while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained less than 0.1 percent to 7,439.50. Markets in New Zealand and Southeast Asia rose.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 3,898.85, its third straight session of losses.

More than 75% of stocks in the S&P 500 closed lower. Technology companies, retailers and industrials were the biggest drags. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 3.5 percent, Home Depot fell 4 percent and Deere & Co. fell 4.1 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% to 33,044.56. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1 percent to 10,852.27.

The report showed weakness in U.S. housing and manufacturing in the Mid-Atlantic region, although they were not as bad as expected and the job market looked healthy. Data on retail sales, the bedrock of the economy and industrial production on Wednesday came in below expectations.

The Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia sharply raised interest rates last year to cool inflation that is running at multi-decade highs in some economies.

Forecasters expect a U.S. recession this year but say it may be short-lived. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)