Asia shares start cautiously, Treasury yields keep climbing

Asia shares start cautiously, Treasury yields keep climbing

Asian share markets got off to a cautious start on Monday amid talk of yet more sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, while bond markets continued to sound the risk of a hard landing for the U.S. economy as short-term yields surged.

A holiday on China made for sluggish trading, and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1%.

Japan's Nikkei was flat, while S&P 500 stock futures eased 0.2% and Nasdaq futures 0.3%.

While Russia-Ukraine peace talks dragged on, reports of Russian atrocities led Germany to say the West would agree to impose more sanctions in coming days.

Germany's defence minister also said the European Union must discuss banning the import of Russian gas, a step that would likely send prices yet higher while forcing some sort of energy rationing in Europe.

Data out last week showed inflation in the EU had already surged to a record high, piling pressure on the European Central Bank to rein in runaway prices even as growth slows sharply.

"It really looks like it is time for the ECB to act," warned analysts at ANZ in a note. "While the ECB will be cautious about raising rates, it certainly looks like it should act sooner