Asia stocks wobble, dollar firm as markets wary before key US inflation data

Asia stocks wobble, dollar firm as markets wary before key US inflation data

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3%, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild losses.







Reuters









April 12, 2022 / 08:03 AM IST





(Representative image)



Asian shares were down while the U.S. dollar held strong on Tuesday, as Treasury yields spiked to a three year high ahead of U.S. inflation data which could foreshadow even more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3%, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild losses.

Australian shares were down 0.65%, while Japan's Nikkei stock index slid 1.5%.

Higher U.S. bond yields were supporting the dollar, with the U.S. currency's index measure against six peers moving back over 100 to test last week's near-two year high.

The Japanese currency bore the brunt of the losses against the greenback, which rose to 125.77 yen overnight, its highest since June 2015.

The yen has been under the gun over recent months as the Bank of Japan has committed to ultra easy policy even as many other major central banks, led by the Fed, have embarked on tightening monetary conditions.

The euro was buffeted