Last week's rate-hike chatter from U.S. Fed officials is negatively impacting global markets, Japan notwithstanding
Recent
hints of a forthcoming rate hike from U.S. Fed officials largely weighed on Asian stocks today, but Japanese markets bucked the trend en route to a sizable breakout. Specifically, the Tokyo-based Nikkei jumped 2.3%, as the yen sank on dovish remarks from Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda -- who committed to taking "additional easing measures without hesitation." Predictably, shares of exporters rallied on the weaker yen.
Elsewhere in Asia, things weren't so sunny. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave back 0.4%, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.3%, and China's Shanghai Composite finished flat.
Last week's
hawkish Fed commentary is pressuring European stocks, as well. While London's FTSE 100 is shuttered for the Summer Bank Holiday, the German DAX has shed 0.6%, and France's CAC 40 has surrendered 0.9% -- despite a nearly 3% rally in Alstom shares, after the high-speed train maker inked a $2 billion pact with Amtrak.
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