EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific declined in Thursday trade. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 2.60% as it led losses among the region’s major markets. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.36%, and the Shanghai composite in mainland China declined 0.16% while the Shenzhen component slipped 1.266%.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.78%, and in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.50%.
In Southeast Asia, the Straits Times index outperformed the broader region as it gained 0.52%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.07%, to 36,407.11; the S&P 500 lost 1.94%, to 4,700.58; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.34%, to 15,100.17
OIL
Oil prices lost ground on Thursday, easing from their highest levels in more than a month as OPEC+ producers stuck to a plan to boost production and U.S. fuel stockpiles surged amid declining demand.
OPEC+ on Tuesday agreed to add another 400,000 bpd of supply in February, as it has done each month since August, while the U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell last week while gasoline inventories surged more than 10 million barrels, the biggest weekly build since April 2020, as supplies backed up at refineries due to reduced fuel demand.
The Brent now traded at $79.71 per barrel, and U.S. crude futures traded at $76.87 per barrel.
Overnight, both contracts climbed to their highest since late November. The Brent futures ends at $80.80 a barrel, while the WTI crude oil prices closed to $77.85 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
U.S. Treasury yields pushed higher after the Fed meeting minutes came in more hawkish than expected. On Thursday, the U.S. 10-year yield remained elevated at 1.693%, just off Wednesday's close of 1.703%.
The U.S. dollar index was about flat at 96.181.
Anticipation of faster policy tightening dented riskier assets, with cryptocurrencies tumbling toward multi-month lows. Bitcoin stabilized at around $42,700 after dipping to a 1-month low in the previous session. Ether recovered some composure to trade around $3,400, after slumping overnight to a mid-October low.
GOLD
Higher U.S. bond yields dulling the lustre of the precious metal. Spot gold dropped 0.3% to $1,805.80 an ounce, and the U.S. gold futures shed 1% to $1,805.60 an ounce.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian shares fell on Thursday, extending a global slump after Federal Reserve meeting minutes pointed to a faster-than-expected rise in U.S. interest rates due to concerns about persistent inflation. Worries over higher U.S. rates combined with growing concerns about the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant to weigh on riskier assets.
In the minutes from the Fed's Dec. 14-15 policy meeting, central bank policymakers said a "very tight" job market and unabated inflation might require the Fed to raise rates sooner and begin reducing its overall asset holdings as a second brake on the economy.
