Entering the final month of the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2022, the equity market is still trading weakly with gains held back as concerns of interest rate hikes and inflation tarnish investor sentiment.
Revealing the state of the market in the United States (US), Wall Street recorded a losing session for 4 consecutive days in addition to ending August with the weakest performance in 7 years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.9% at 31,510.43, the S&P 500 was down 0.8% at 3,955 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.6% at 11,816.20.
Tim Ghriskey comments, equities will remain in uncertainty for the time being especially after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled hawkishness with the implementation of his interest rate hike.
In the meantime, the US private sector employment data published yesterday saw the number increase but failed to reach the set projections.
Based on these factors, the dollar index is seen to weaken slightly, but overall for the long term the greenback is predicted to remain strong.
Looking at the situation in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.05% while Topix fell 0.73% while South Korea's Kospi fell 1.23% and Kosdaq lost 0.53%.
Overall MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares fell 0.53%.
The main focus for Asian markets focused on China's Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index released today.
Like to be reminded that China's manufacturing activity has previously shrunk due to several factors such as Covid-19 and the worst heat wave in the Great Wall country's history.
