BEIJING (Xinhua) — After Wall Street hit a record high on tech sector gains and the World Bank raised its projection for Chinese economic growth, Asian stock markets fell for the second day in a row on Tuesday. The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -0.95 percent dropped 0.9 percent, while the Nikkei 225 NIK, -0.90 percent in Tokyo dropped 1%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng HSI, -0.77 percent, fell 0.8 percent.
Seoul’s Kospi 180721, -0.51 percent fell 0.5 percent, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.32 percent fell 0.5 percent. Indonesia’s JAKIDX increased by 0.30 percent, while Singapore’s STI fell by 0.97 percent, Taiwan’s Y9999 increased by 0.02 percent, and Malaysia’s FBMKLCI increased by 0.06 percent.
The World Bank boosted its forecast for China’s economic growth this year from 8.1 percent in April to 8.5 percent on Tuesday. A successful recovery, according to the Washington-based lender, will necessitate advances in coronavirus immunizations. Overnight, the S&P 500 index SPX gained 0.2 percent as advances in Facebook FB, +4.18 percent, Nvidia NVDA, +5.01 percent, and other tech stocks offset declines in other industries. Investors are torn between optimism about a global economic recovery bolstered by coronavirus vaccines and concern that central banks may be pressured to reduce support to combat increasing inflation pressures. Traders are looking for indicators that the labor market is “starting to show initial symptoms of heating” after the Federal Reserve stated it would move up its target date for rising interest rates, according to Anderson Alves of ActivTrades. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.23% rose to 4,290.61 on Wall Street, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.44% fell 0.4 percent to 34,283.27. The Nasdaq composite COMP, +0.98 percent increased by 1% to a new high of 14,500.51. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark U.S. crude CLQ21, -0.49% fell 39 cents to $72.52 per barrel in electronic trading. On Monday, the contract dropped $1.14 to $72.91. In London, Brent crude BRNQ21, -0.51 percent, which is used to price international petroleum, fell 46 cents to $73.68 a barrel. The dollar USDJPY, -0.05 percent fell to 110.51 yen on Tuesday, down from 110.55 yen on Monday.
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