Stocks markets feel pangs over recession fears

London: Stock markets in Europe and Asia fell as investors became increasingly worried that more interest rate hikes by central banks would tip major economies into a prolonged recession, a media report said.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index led the losses, closing 1.7 percent down. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended the day 1.5 percent lower and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.3 percent, CNN reported.
Stock exchanges in mainland China were closed for a public holiday.
US stock futures are pointing lower, putting Wall Street on track for a losing week, the report said.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that further rises in interest rates were likely necessary this year to bring US inflation down to the central bank’s 2 percent target.
This was followed by a sharper-than-expected hike in UK borrowing costs by the Bank of England Thursday, which opted for an increase of half a percentage point after data earlier this week revealed surprisingly stubborn inflation, CNN reported.