Asian markets tumble as US inflation boosts rate hike expectations

Asian stocks plunged Thursday as tech firms suffered heavy losses after US consumer price inflation rose faster than expected in September, fueling bets the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates. Seoul and Tokyo bore the brunt of the selling. Seoul's Kospi fell over 7 percent, with Samsung and SK hynix each sinking more than 10 percent, while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shed over 5 percent as chipmakers like Advantest plunged over 13 percent. The selloff tracked sharp losses on Wall Street, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped nearly 2 percent overnight. The US consumer price index hit 3.7 percent in September, driven largely by a 9.1 percent surge in gasoline costs linked to the Iran war's disruption of crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Fed funds futures now price a 31.6 percent chance of a rate hike at the Fed's Oct 28 meeting, up from 22.1 percent a day earlier.