Asian shares edgy amid inflation fears, dollar at one-year high

Asian shares edgy amid inflation fears, dollar at one-year high

Oil prices are currently near multi-year highs, but were steadier in Asian morning trading.





Reuters









October 13, 2021 / 08:23 AM IST





(Representative image)



Asian shares were on edge on Wednesday as worries about soaring power prices fuelling inflation weighed on sentiment and drove expectations the United States would taper its emergency bond buying programme, holding the dollar at a one-year high.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1% in early trading, steadying after falling over 1% a day earlier, in what was its worst daily performance in three weeks.

Moves were muted in most markets. Chinese blue chips were flat, Australia eeked out a 0.06% gain, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.2%.

Hong Kong's stock market was closed in the morning because of a typhoon.

Also contributing to the uneasy mood, investors are waiting for a raft of data releases due to be published Wednesday, including Chinese trade figures, U.S. consumer price inflation data, and minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's September policy meeting.

The looming start of company earnings season also deterred some investors from placing large bets.

"This week, inflation is overriding pretty much everything else, because that pushes Fed expectations one