Stocks fell in Asia on Thursday after further losses on Wall Street following a Federal Reserve report showing US economic activity has slowed this summer.

The report highlighted a resurgence of coronavirus cases and growing supply chain problems and labor shortages – woes affecting many economies. Benchmarks fell in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney.

Japan has extended its emergency measures to tackle COVID-19 outbreaks until the end of September, as the number of new cases only slowly decreases, straining the healthcare system.

Chinese markets have been cooled by new government measures to tighten controls on online businesses that thrived during the pandemic.

In another development, rating agencies say Evergrande Group, one of China’s largest real estate developers, appears increasingly likely to default on its debts following reports it will delay payment. interest on bank loans. The company sells assets to raise funds and faces complaints about the delay in paying contractors and delivering projects to clients.

Rating agencies Moody’s and Fitch downgraded their ratings on Evergrande’s debt this week to a level that indicates they believe the company is likely to default on the bonds due to lack of liquidity. Chinese officials are trying to reduce the economy’s high debt levels and have urged Evergrande to settle its debt of more than $ 300 billion, but financial analysts suggest they could allow a default while trying to reduce its debt. impact on the financial system.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% to 30,031.67. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 1.2% to 26,003.25, while the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.2% to 3,669.74. In Sydney, the S & P / ASX 200 fell 1.2% to 7,424.20. Shares rose in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury bill fell to 1.33% after rising sharply to 1.37% on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, its third consecutive decline. The benchmark S&P 500 was roughly split between winners and losers, but weakness in tech, communications and financials weighed on the market. Less risky investments, including consumer staples and utilities, have grown significantly.

Small business stocks fell more than the broader market. Bond yields were mixed. Oil prices have gone up.

The Federal Reserve’s latest survey of the country’s economic conditions, dubbed the “Beige Book,” said US economic activity “slowed” in July and August.

The Fed said the slowdown was largely due to a decline in restaurants, travel and tourism in most parts of the country, reflecting concerns about the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

The S&P 500 lost 5.96 points to 4,514.07, 0.5% below the all-time high of the index set last Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 35,031.07, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.6% to 2,249.73. The drop in the tech index ended a four-day winning streak.

The Russell 2000 Small Business Index lost 1.1% to 2,249.73.

Investors could find themselves in a choppy market until September as they watch the Federal Reserve and Washington grapple with budget reconciliation, infrastructure spending and the debt ceiling.

On the positive side, U.S. employers posted record job openings for the second consecutive month in July, according to the Labor Department. The disconnect between the growing number of vacancies and the weak recovery in employment levels suggests that the employment problem could harm the wider economic recovery.

The latest beige book will be used by Fed policymakers at their next meeting on September 21-22 to help them decide how to change interest rates and whether to end the monthly 120 billion bond purchases. dollars the central bank has made since the start of the pandemic, to help lower long-term interest rates.

Also on Wednesday, shares of cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase fell 3.2% after the company revealed it was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over its plans. to offer its cryptocurrency holders a chance to earn interest on their assets if they lend them out. The company said the regulator threatened to take civil enforcement action and that the launch of the loan program was delayed until at least October.

In other exchanges, benchmark US crude oil rose 5 cents to $ 68.35 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 95 cents on Wednesday, at $ 69.30 a barrel.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for price, rose 9 cents to $ 72.69 a barrel.

The US dollar slipped to 110.16 Japanese yen from 110.25 yen. The euro went from $ 1.1818 to $ 1.1823,

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AP Business editors Joe McDonald, Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.