Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Friday, slumping toward a second weekly loss as investors fretted about the potential for further Federal Reserve tightening and the effect on the U.S. economy.
U.S. short-term Treasury yields held near a one-month high, helping the dollar tick up against major peers, after Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin overnight added to a chorus of hawkish central bank commentary in recent days.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares (.MIAP00000PUS) sank 0.54% and was on course for a 1% weekly decline, after losing 1.16% in the previous week.
Mainland Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) lost 0.41% and the Hang Seng (.HSI) tumbled 1.19%.
China’s January factory gate prices fell more than economists expected, suggesting that flashes of domestic demand that had stoked consumer prices after the zero-COVID policy ended are not yet strong enough to rekindle upstream sectors.
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