Asian stocks follow Wall St lower as rate hike worries grow

Asian stocks have followed Wall Street lower as fears spread that U.S. interest rate hikes to fight inflation might stall economic growth

BEIJING -- Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower Friday as fears spread that U.S. interest rate hikes to fight inflation might stall economic growth.

Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney declined. Tokyo gained as trading resumed after a holiday.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index plunged 3.6% on Thursday for its biggest one-day loss in two years as optimism that drove the previous day's rally evaporated.

Investors worry whether the Federal Reserve, which raised its key interest rate by a half percentage point on Wednesday, can cool inflation without tipping the U.S. economy into recession. Traders were briefly encouraged by chairman Jerome Powell's comment that the Fed wasn't considering even bigger increases.