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Asia stocks edge down; dollar rides Treasury yields higher

Asian shares tracked a. negative lead from Wall Street on Wednesday, while the dollar. and Treasury yields jumped as traders pared back expectations. for the rate and scale of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this. year.

The latest shift in rate expectations followed an advantage. surprise in U.S. inflation on Tuesday which revealed the customer. rate index (CPI) rising 3.1% on an annual basis, above. projections for a 2.9% increase.

Futures now point to about 87 basis points of alleviating priced. in for the Fed this year, as compared to 110 bps prior to the. data release and 160 bps at the end of in 2015.

That kept pressure on worldwide stocks, which had actually rallied. highly towards the end of in 2015 on aggressive bets for. rate cuts by significant reserve banks worldwide in 2024.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. fell 0.8% in early Asia trade and was headed for. a fifth straight day of losses.

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were. trading near flat. EUROSTOXX 50 futures lost 0.3%.

The stronger data pushes back on the hope of a rate cut. from the Federal Reserve any time soon, said Daniela Hathorn,. senior market expert at Capital.com.

We'll likely have to wait for the 2nd half of the year. for the Fed to start cutting, but the problem isn't so much. whether the bank will cut rates this year, as that is a nearly. certainty at this point, however the number of rate cuts there will be.

Even Japan's standout Nikkei was not spared from the. beating and fell 0.7%, after getting 2.9% in the previous. session and topping the 38,000 level.

The recent relocation higher in the Nikkei was assisted in part by a. moving yen, which had actually weakened past the essential 150 per. dollar level for the first time this year on Tuesday.

The yen last stood at 150.63 per dollar.

If they do try intervention, I believe it'll be near ... the. ( dollar/yen) high from October 2022 and the high we saw in. mid-November, stated Tony Sycamore, a market expert at IG,. describing intervention efforts from Japanese authorities to. fortify the currency.

Japan's leading currency officials warned on Wednesday against. what they described as speculative and rapid yen relocations. overnight.

In other places, stocks in Hong Kong were similarly in the red in. their very first trading day following the Lunar New Year vacations. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.8%.

Mainland China's monetary markets stay closed for the. week.

HIGHER FOR LONGER

The possibility that U.S. rates are most likely to remain elevated for. longer than at first anticipated pressed the benchmark 10-year. Treasury yield to an over two-month high of 4.3320%. on Wednesday.

The two-year Treasury yield, which typically. shows near-term rate of interest expectations, last stood at. 4.6324%, having likewise scaled a two-month top of 4.6730% in. the previous session.

That's assisted the greenback company near a three-month peak. versus a basket of currencies at 104.81. The dollar. index struck its greatest level considering that November on Tuesday.

The attendant, broad-based U.S. dollar rise admittedly. reflects (the) corresponding surge in U.S. Treasury yields,. said Vishnu Varathan, chief financial expert for Asia ex-Japan at. Mizuho Bank.

Sterling steadied at $1.2597.

The pound surged briefly in the previous session on data. showing British pay grew at the weakest pace in more than a year. at the end of 2023, but the downturn was most likely not. significant adequate to spur the Bank of England into quicker. action towards cutting rate of interest.

UK inflation information is due later on Wednesday.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin pulled back from the. $ 50,000 level and last purchased $49,496.

Oil prices meanwhile edged lower, reversing a few of. Tuesday's gains as geopolitical stress stuck around in the Middle. East and eastern Europe.

U.S. crude fell 22 cents to $77.65 a barrel. Brent. futures relieved 33 cents to $82.44.

Gold was bit changed at $1,992.37 an ounce.

(source: Reuters)