Wall Street Slides as Dow Jones Loses More Than 600 Points

US stocks declined at the close of trading yesterday, following the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike in three years and comments by its chairman, Jerome Powell, that raised concerns about higher interest rates and bond yields remaining elevated for a longer period.

In Asia, Japanese stocks rose during today’s trading session, supported by falling oil prices and after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected.

Conversely, stock indices in China and Hong Kong fell at the close of trading today, led by sectors sensitive to interest rates such as gold and real estate, after the first US rate hike in three years sparked concerns about capital outflows.

Meanwhile, the US dollar remained stable against the Chinese yuan, trading at 6.7071 yuan at 12:20 PM Mecca time.

China’s gold stock index dropped by 4%, and the non-ferrous metals stock index fell by 3%, while Hong Kong’s real estate company stocks declined by nearly 1%. In contrast, stocks in the biotechnology and semiconductor sectors bucked the overall trend, posting positive performance in both markets.