Asian markets tumble and the pound slumps as Britain's economic plan startles investors.
Markets tumbled on Monday, extending last week’s losses as rattled investors continued to worry about the prospects of a global recession triggered by higher interest rates, energy shortages, and spiking inflation.
Stock markets in Japan and South Korea dropped more than 2 percent at the open of trade on Monday, while the pound briefly crashed to a $1.03, a record low against the dollar. By midday in Seoul, sterling had rallied to about $1.05, hovering around its weakest level since 1985.
Last week, central bankers around the world, from the United States to Sweden to Indonesia, raised interest rates to combat stubbornly high inflation. Stocks nose-dived, government bond prices plummeted, oil prices slumped, and cryptocurrencies wobbled.
On Friday, the markets were further spooked by a sudden policy change from Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, on how to fix its ailing economy. Already struggling with volatile energy prices and soaring inflation, her new government is betting that tax cuts, deregulation and other hallmarks of free-market economics will pull the country out of its economic slump.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/25/business/economy-news-inflation-stocks#asian-markets-tumble-and-the-pound-slumps-as-britains-economic-plan-startles-investors
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