Asian shares slip ahead of key United States inflation data

Asian shares slip ahead of key United States inflation data

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.4 percent and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.5 percent. Further, The Hong Kong benchmark lost 0.24 percent due to China Evergrande’s first bond default







Reuters









December 10, 2021 / 08:28 AM IST





Asian shares slipped and the dollar held firm on December 10 as traders edged away from riskier assets amid renewed concerns about COVID-19 and ahead of key inflation data from the United States that could set direction on Federal Reserve (Fed) rates.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.4 percent and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.5 percent. Overnight the S&P 500 lost 0.72 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.71 percent. S&P 500 futures rose 0.14 percent in Asian hours.

Shares and risk-friendly currencies had performed well earlier in the week, with MSCI's regional benchmark posting its best day in two months on December 7, helped by indications the Omicron strain of the new coronavirus might not be as economically disruptive as first feared.

"Then, as we got towards the end of the week the fact that Europe was much more clearly moving into a sort of lockdown light and cases