By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were down on Thursday morning, extending a fall in U.S. counterparts. U.S. equity options also fell as investors turned to safer havens like sovereign bonds, amid growing fears about an economic downturn.

Japan’s fell 2.44% by 10:31 PM ET (2:31 AM GMT), with for April 2022 showing that rose 12.5% year-on-year, rose 28.2% year-on-year, and the contracted to -JPY839.2 billion (-$6.51 billion).

South Korea’s fell 1.60%.

The Australian fell by 1.59%. Data from the employment sector showed that there was an increase of 4,000 workers in April 2022. There were also 92.400 people and 3.9%.

Hong Kong’s slid 3.47%.

China’s was down 0.96% and the fell 1.20%.

Stocks in the region were impacted by the index’s 4% fall during the previous session, the biggest fall in almost two years. Also, the index plunged by more than 5 percent.

Worries about high inflation are also a concern in the latest earnings reports from companies. Target Corp. (NYSE 🙂 shares dropped the most since Black Monday 1987. This happened just one day after Walmart Inc. Cisco Systems Inc.’s shares (NASDAQ:), fell during extended trading because of its disappointing revenue outlook.

The U.S. Federal Reserve maintained a cautious tone with Charles Evans, Chicago Fed President, stating that raising interest rates slightly above neutral levels and then stopping should bring down inflation. Treasuries increased due to lower risk appetite. New Zealand bonds are also showing an upward trend.

China’s ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns are also impacting markets, and Tencent Holdings (OTC:) Ltd. (HK:) said it will take time for authorities to act on promises to prop up the Chinese tech sector. Premier Li Keqiang stated that China still has sufficient policy space to address the economic challenges.

Oil fell to $109 in commodities because of concerns about fuel demand.

Bellwether retailers face inflation, which is making it less likely that the positive corporate earnings argument could reduce stock losses in 2022. Global equities may be heading towards a bearish market, which is also increasing concerns.

“We are pricing in a growth scare,” RBC Capital Markets’ Lori Calvasina told Bloomberg.

“The market is trying to find a bottom here. There is a lot of uncertainty in this market right now about whether or not that recession is going to come through or if it’s going to be another near-death experience.”

According to Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, Russia is not likely to allow Russia to make bond payments on foreign-currency debt. She added that the exclusion of Russia from the global financial systems for its involvement in the Ukraine war has given investors time to adjust.