Asian stocks retreat on lack of direction from Fed, pandemic

Asian stock markets are retreating after U.S. central bank policymakers made no firm decision on when to unwind their support measures for the economy

SINGAPORE -- Asian stock markets retreated Thursday after U.S. central bank policymakers made no firm decision on when to unwind their support measures for the economy. Regional indices tracked losses on Wall Street. The lack of a directive from the Federal Reserve fueled worries over surging coronavirus infections caused by the delta variant, and the pandemic's impact on consumer spending and jobs growth. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 slipped 1.1% to 27,281.17. The Kospi in South Korea lost 1.9% to 3,099.64 and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up 0.6% to 3,464.08 in afternoon trading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 2.2% at 25,304.72. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 declined 0.5% to 7,464.60.