{"id":140387,"date":"2021-10-01T07:33:10","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T07:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=140387"},"modified":"2021-10-01T07:33:10","modified_gmt":"2021-10-01T07:33:10","slug":"asian-stocks-extend-global-slide-as-inflation-fears-bite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/asian-stocks-extend-global-slide-as-inflation-fears-bite\/","title":{"rendered":"Asian stocks extend global slide as inflation fears bite"},"content":{"rendered":"
TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian equities followed Wall Street sharply lower and bonds rallied on Friday, as risk sentiment soured amid growing worries that inflation may persist even after global growth has peaked.<\/p> Japan\u2019s Nikkei tumbled 2.52% to the lowest level since Sept. 3, while Australian stocks slumped 2.02%, South Korea\u2019s Kospi lost 1.50%, and Taiwan\u2019s benchmark dropped 2.18%.<\/p>\n An MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks slid 1.33% to its lowest since Aug. 24.<\/p>\n Chinese markets are closed for a week from Friday for the Golden Week holiday.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can argue whether it\u2019s really stagflation or not, but the whole growth-inflation backdrop seems to have just tilted to a less favorable one,\u201d said Rob Carnell, Asia-Pacific head of research at ING in Singapore.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether or not this is actually going to get imbedded and create problems for years to come, we don\u2019t need to know right now – it\u2019s sufficiently scary that what we\u2019re seeing in markets is justified.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. stock futures pointed to a 0.60% decline for the S&P 500, following a 1.19% drop in the index overnight that punctuated its worst month since March of last year.<\/p>\n Nasdaq futures also signaled a 0.61% retreat, adding to Thursday\u2019s 0.43% loss.<\/p>\n MSCI\u2019s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.27% on Friday to touch the lowest since July 20.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note continued to rally in Tokyo trading, with the yield sliding to the lowest since Sept. 28 at 1.4754%. It was at a more than four-month peak of 1.567% just three days earlier.<\/p>\n The dollar index, which measures the currency against six major rivals, was off Thursday\u2019s one-year high of 94.504, last changing hands at 94.286.<\/p>\n The safe-haven yen bounced off its lowest since February of last year at 112.08 per greenback on Thursday to last trade at 111.21.<\/p>\n The risk-sensitive Australian dollar slipped 0.26% to $0.72075, edging back toward a one-month low of $0.71705 reached mid-week.<\/p>\n Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that resolving \u201ctension\u201d between high inflation and high unemployment is the Fed\u2019s most urgent issue, acknowledging a potential conflict between the U.S. central bank\u2019s two goals of stable prices and full employment.<\/p>\n A Federal Open Market Committee meeting last week reinforced expectations for asset purchase tapering to start in November, with rate hikes following as soon as next year.<\/p>\n The latest clues on the Fed\u2019s policy normalisation path come with U.S. personal spending and core consumption deflator data later in the day.<\/p>\n \u201cRising employment costs and high inflation expectations suggests a sharp fall in inflation in line with the FOMC\u2019s transitory narrative is increasingly unlikely,\u201d strategists at Commonwealth Bank of Australia wrote in a client note.<\/p>\n China has proved another particular worry for investors: the economy took a hit from regulatory curbs in the tech and property sectors, and is now grappling with a power shortage that threatens to push up energy prices globally.<\/p>\n However, crude prices continued to ease on Friday after Brent topped $80 a barrel earlier in the week for the first time in three years.<\/p>\n Brent crude futures slipped 0.22% from Thursday to$78.14, while U.S. crude futures fell 0.25% to $74.83.<\/p>\n Gold, an inflation hedge and safe haven, edged back 0.3% to $1,751.43 an ounce, following Thursday\u2019s 1.77% surge, the biggest since March.<\/p>\n