SINGAPORE - Asian stocks were a sea of red on Thursday and bonds slid on bets global interest rates would stay higher for longer, as investors looked to key inflation readings at the end of the week for further clues on the future path of monetary policy.
"Hotter and stickier than expected global inflation appears to be taking the air out of asset markets," said Vishnu Varathan, chief economist for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Bank. "Equities slid and bonds swooned, and USD swaggered."MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5%, tracking a negative lead from Wall Street and extending its 1.6% decline from the previous session.
The main highlight of the week for markets, however, is Friday's U.S. core personal consumption expenditures price index report - the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation. Expectations are for it to hold steady on a monthly basis. The yen last stood at 157.43 per dollar, after having slid to a four-week low of 157.715 in the previous session.
Oil prices rose slightly, recovering some lost ground from Wednesday on worries over weak U.S. gasoline demand and higher-for-longer interest rates.Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,334.15 an ounce. Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday that the federal budget presented to the Parliament last month had created conditions for interest rates to come down.