Asian shares tracked Wall Street lower on Thursday, as a number of Federal Reserve speakers echoed Chair Jerome Powell in saying that interest rates are set to go higher, capping risk sentiment, while the dollar hovered near one-month highs.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) slid 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) also fell 0.3%.
China’s blue chips .
On Wednesday, Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) shares fell 7.7% after its new AI chatbot Bard delivered an incorrect answer in a promotional video, dragging the S&P 500 (.SPX) and Nasdaq (.IXIC) lower by more than 1%.
Adding to the cautious mood, Federal Reserve officials said more interest rate rises are on the cards as the U.S. central bank moves ahead with efforts to control inflation. None hinted though that January’s strong jobs report could drive more aggressive policy actions.
“Now that inflation has passed its peak and many central banks have begun to slow the pace of policy tightening, markets are back to scouring their communications for evidence of what’s to come,” said Jennifer McKeown, chief global economist at Capital Economics.
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