Asian Equities Remain Lower as U.S. Dollar Gains

Asian stocks fell, with the regional index dropping the most in a month on concern that China’s growth is slowing and amid speculation that U.S. interest rates will rise sooner than estimated. The dollar reached a fresh six-year high to the yen and crude oil rose.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped a fifth day, slipping 0.6 percent by 2:12 p.m. in Tokyo. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index retreated 1.7 percent as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced money-supply growth that was the slowest in five months. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures declined 0.1 percent after the U.S. gauge’s biggest retreat since Aug. 5. The greenback bought as much as 106.52 yen, while the Australian currency slid 0.4 percent. Oil in New York and London advanced and copper climbed 0.3 percent.

The U.S. reports on wholesale inventories today, as investors including BlackRock Inc. speculate that an improving labor market and signs of inflation may justify sooner-than-forecast rate increases by the Federal Reserve. Premier Li’s announcement came before China releases data on lending and money supply this week, with economists estimating aggregate financing will cap its biggest two-month slump since 2011. France and Spain report on industrial production today.

Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.