hong kong asian markets sank friday as investors tracked another hefty selloff on wall street concerned about the prospect of higher borrowing costs a possible us debt default and signs that the global recovery is slowingwhile the fourth quarter is generally considered a strong period for traders it has started in much the same fashion as the previous one ended with uncertainty replacing optimism that the worst of the pandemic is overnews that us lawmakers had finally passed legislation to avert a costly government shutdown did little to allay concerns about the fact that they are unable to agree a deal to raise the debt limittop officials including treasury secretary janet yellen and federal reserve boss jerome powell have warned that failure to do so before the cash runs out in midoctober would leave the country unable to pay its bills and default leading to an economic catastropheat the same time democrats continue to bicker among themselves over joe bidens multitrilliondollar infrastructure and social spending bills which will still face a tough passage through congressinvestors are also preparing for the fed to start tapering its massive bondbuying programme before the end of the yearthe move will bring an end to the massive financial support put in place at the start of the pandemic that has been a key driver of the global economic and equity recovery observers are speculating a hike in interest rates could then come before the end of 2023the banks monetary tightening which is being mirrored in other economies comes as it looks to temper a sharp spike in inflation fuelled by the worldwide reopening supply chain bottlenecks and surging commodity pricesall three main indexes on wall street ended in the red on thursday with the sp shedding more than four percent in septemberand asia followed suittokyo fell two percent as investors brushed off the closely watched tankan business survey showing confidence among major japanese manufacturers had improved for the fifth consecutive quartersydney seoul singapore wellington taipei and jakarta also fellhong kong and mainland chinese markets were closed for a holidaya wary eye was being kept on china as troubled property titan evergrande teeters on the brink owing more than 300 billion with hope that authorities who have until now stayed largely silent on the crisis may comment during a weeklong holidaybeijings crackdown on a range of industries including tech firms also continued to jangle nervesthe old adage the market climbs a wall of worry is not lost on us said tom mantione at ubs private wealth managementworries about china the pandemic the debt ceiling and us tax legislation are weighing on investors right now but it is important to understand which issues may create structural change and which ones create shortterm volatility that investors can take advantage of