Asian markets decline amid economic slowdown fears, experts say limited impact on India

NEW DELHI: Asian stock markets on Monday plummeted early as selling pressure mounted after lower-than-expected US payroll growth and the Fed meeting date coming.

The Japanese and Hong Kong markets faced high selling pressure, with major indices declining by more than 1.50 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined by 1.84 per cent or 632 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 1.73 per cent or 301 points at the time of filing this report.

According to experts, concerns of a slowdown in China and Germany have added fuel to the selling in stocks, which were already volatile due to Fed rate cut expectations.

"Eight days of volatility are assured for the markets as the Fed rate cut of September 18 comes within striking distance. The seasonality of poor September performance of markets is playing out as per expectations. On top of that, the slowdown in China and Germany is adding to global growth worries. The news of a top German car manufacturer mulling closing down car factories in Germany was symbolic of all that is troubling Germany," said Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market expert.

Taiwan's markets also bled, with the country's major index, Taiwan Weighted, declining by more than 2 per cent. South Korea's KOSPI index plummeted by 1.15 per cent. Overall, a selling sentiment was witnessed among investors in the Asian markets.

However, experts also noted that the impact of the other Asian markets will be less on Indian stocks because of the high buying by domestic investors, but some volatility can be expected. Bagga added, "For Indian markets, the impact is coming via FII selling. The good news is that despite the net FII outflows of over Rs 5.5 lakh crore from Jan 2022 to August 2024, the Rs 11 lakh crore plus of robust domestic inflows have meant every dip has been bought into in the Indian markets. We expect a couple of weeks of this volatility, but don't expect sharp cuts in the Indian markets given the domestic liquidity sitting on the sidelines."

Indian stock indices took a sharp hit on Friday, the last trading day of the current week, with all sectoral indices closing deep in the red. The sell-off was broad-based, with the banking and energy sectors taking the biggest hit. Nifty 50 dropped 292.95 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 24,852.15, while the BSE Sensex fell 1,017.23 points, or 1.24 per cent, to 81,183.93.

"The recent weakness in U.S. markets has stalled the momentum in Indian markets, causing participants to become cautious ahead of the upcoming jobs data," said Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking. Weakness in global markets and selling by foreign portfolio investors seemed to have hurt domestic market sentiment.