Asian markets nosedive to 15-month lows

High Inflation Squeezing Business

- Inflation continues to worry markets

- US plan to buy bonds through pandemic puts further pressure

- Nikkei fell 3.2%

- Hang Seng decline 2.6%, Kospi lost 2.9%

- Shanghai, S&P-ASX200 among losers

- Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.1%, Nasdaq flat on Wed

New Delhi: Stock markets in Asia have tumbled to their lowest in nearly 15 months after America's central bank chief confirmed widely expected plans to increase interest rates this year, beginning in March, The Guardian reported.

With investors also concerned about political tensions between Russia and Ukraine, supply chain problems and rising oil prices, the prospect of sustained increases in the cost of borrowing by the world's most powerful economy sent a spasm of anxiety through financial markets on Thursday.

Luigi Speranza, chief global economist at BNP Paribas Markets 360, now expects the Fed to raise interest rates six times this year, after last night's hawkish comments from Jerome Powell.

"We read Fed Chair Powell's comment that this cycle is different from the previous one as an indication that the Fed's bias is for a steeper tightening than the markets and we had envisaged. We have moved our call for this year to six 25bps hikes from four previously and now expect the fed funds target range at 2.25-2.50 per cent at end-2023, 25bps higher than we had previously forecast. Our new base case for six hikes this year poses challenges to our bullish outlook for US equities. However, it is not sufficient to derail it on a standalone basis if earnings growth remains strong, in our view," The Guardian reported.