Stocks in Asia slipped Friday amid a drop in Chinese technology shares and as investors evaluated economic risks from Federal Reserve policy tightening and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific equity gauge fell for a second session, dragged lower by tumbling tech shares in Hong Kong. U.S. and European futures wavered after the S&P 500 index closed at a more than six-week high on Thursday. Treasuries made modest gains but remain on course for one of their worst quarterly routs since at least the early 1970s.
Oil steadied after European Union leaders refrained from fresh steps to cut imports of Russian crude. Investors are continuing to grapple with the ramifications of Russia’s invasion and isolation, including elevated raw-material costs that have stoked expectations of higher inflation and more aggressive Fed interest-rate hikes.
The yen snapped a prolonged drop against the dollar that was spurred partly by the monetary-policy divergence between the U.S. and a still-dovish Japan. The yen could yet weaken further to lows from 1990, according to Societe Generale SA strategist Albert Edwards. A gauge of the dollar declined.
