Asian stocks slump, dollar shines as inflation fears flare

Asian stocks slump, dollar shines as inflation fears flare

TOKYO - Inflation fears pressured Asian stocks and buoyed the dollar on Thursday after data overnight showed U.S. consumer prices surged at the fastest pace since 1990 last month, boosting the case for faster Federal Reserve policy tightening. Nominal U.S. Treasury yields shot higher, with that on the benchmark 10-year note leaping by the most since February, while real yields, which take inflation into account, dipped to record lows. Gold jumped to a five-month high and bitcoin hit a record as investors sought inflation hedges. Oil pulled back sharply from near seven-year highs after U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration was looking for ways to reduce energy costs. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.85%, led by a 1.19% slide in Australia's benchmark. Chinese blue chips slipped 0.09%. Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend by rising 0.24%, supported by the yen's weakness against a resurgent dollar and as U.S. stock futures ticked up slightly. Overnight though, the S&P 500 tumbled 0.82%, its worst day in more than a month. That marked the first back-to-back declines in a month, after the index closed at a record peak to start the week. The dollar index , which gauges