Asian shares track Wall St retreat on interest rate worries

Asian shares have tracked a retreat on Wall Street after details from last month’s Federal Reserve meeting showed the central bank plans to be aggressive in fighting inflation

BANGKOK -- Asian shares tracked a retreat on Wall Street after details from last month’s Federal Reserve meeting showed the central bank plans to be aggressive in fighting inflation.

The Fed comments have added to investor unease over the war in Ukraine, coronavirus outbreaks in China and persistent high inflation.

Benchmarks fell Thursday in all major regional markets. U.S. futures fell while oil prices were higher.

The minutes from the meeting three weeks ago showed Fed policymakers agreed to begin cutting the central bank’s stockpile of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities by about $95 billion a month, starting in May. That’s more than some investors expected and nearly double the pace the last time the Fed shrank its balance sheet.