Most Asian stocks fell Wednesday as mixed corporate earnings, China’s Covid challenges and the prospect of aggressive Federal Reserve monetary tightening pointed to a deteriorating economic outlook.
Japan dragged an Asia-Pacific share gauge to the lowest since 2020 after U.S. shares slid Tuesday, hurt by a technology-sector selloff. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures stabilized, while European contracts dipped. China’s bourses bucked the downbeat Asian trend, carving out a gain after President Xi Jinping vowed more infrastructure projects — the latest step to support a lockdown-hit economy.
The Covid outbreaks in Shanghai and Beijing also showed tentative signs of steadying. Prevailing risk aversion supported the dollar, which was around the highest level in nearly two years.
Treasuries retreated but the benchmark 10-year yield, at 2.76%, remains lower for the week. The euro touched the weakest level versus the greenback since 2017 amid worries that Moscow may choke gas flows to Europe, hurting the region’s growth in the ongoing fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
