Japan’s Nikkei plunges at open as Asia markets drop following Powell’s Jackson Hole speech

Shares in the Asia-Pacific traded lower on Monday following Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. He warned that rising interest rates will cause “some pain” to the U.S. economy, saying higher interest rates likely will persist “for some time.”

The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 2.57% and the Topix index declined 2.09%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.4% and the Kosdaq index dropped 3.14%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 2%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.9%, while the Japanese yen traded at 138.27 per dollar.

On Friday in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,008 points, or 3.03% to 32,283.40. The S&P 500 fell 3.37% to 4,057.66 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.94% to 12,141.71.

“While higher interest rates, slower growth, and softer labor market conditions will bring down inflation, they will also bring some pain to households and businesses,” Powell said. “These are the unfortunate costs of reducing inflation. But a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain.”

He said the Fed’s decision in September “will depend on the totality of the incoming data and the evolving outlook.”