Asian shares decline on Wall Street losses, rate worries

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street shares fell for the fourth straight week.

Shares fell in early trading in Tokyo, Sydney, South Korea and Hong Kong, but were little changed in Shanghai. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the U.S. dollar to nearly 144 yen.

“The mood in markets is defensive ahead of key central bank decisions,” said Anderson Alves at ActivTrades.

Rising energy prices are adding to the worries about recessions in some parts of the world, he said.

In Japan, the government is giving 50,000 yen ($350) to needy families, to help cope with daily needs and energy prices in a move also designed to boost the lagging economy.

“The real solution to this inflation crisis obviously lies on the supply side, in terms of energy and other key goods. Yet that really takes us a step away from inflation-targeting and back towards an echo of how macro-stability was previously achieved,” according to RaboResearch.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed nearly 1.0% in morning trading to 27,362.83. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.3% to 6,735.80. South Korea's Kospi slid 1.5% to 2,373.14. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 1.7% to 18,884.75, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed at 3,243.55.

Shares fell on Wall Street coming into a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% after bouncing between a gain of 0.5% and a loss of 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq lost 0.7%.

The major indexes are coming off their third losing week in a row, part of a late-summer slump that erased much of the benchmark S&P 500's gains from July and early August.

Stocks have been losing ground as the Federal Reserve has indicated...