Asia stocks drift, dollar firm as Fed rate path pondered
Asian stocks lacked direction on Wednesday, while the dollar remained firm despite lower U.S. Treasury yields as markets assessed mixed signals from U.S. policymakers and economic data on the path for Federal Reserve interest rates.
The yen remained on the back foot even with the threat of currency intervention from Japanese authorities to support it.
Crude oil hovered near two-month lows amid signs of easing supply pressure and continued hopes for a Middle East ceasefire.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.19%, weighed down partly by declines from mainland Chinese blue chips. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.52%.
Japan's Nikkei slumped about 1% as traders took profits following the previous session's 1.6% surge. The tech-heavy index also succumbed to pressure from a sell-off in U.S. chip stocks on Tuesday.
U.S. stock futures were flat.
The yen slipped 0.16% to 154.94 per dollar, even as Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki expressed deep concern over the negative impact of a weak currency and reiterated a readiness to respond to excessive volatility.
The U.S. dollar index — which measures the currency against the yen, euro, sterling and three other major peers — rose 0.09% to 105.51, adding to Tuesday's 0.3% advance.
The euro edged down 0.12% to $1.07325 and sterling lost 0.14% to $1.24915.
On Tuesday, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari suggested the U.S. central bank may need to forgo interest rate cuts this year due to stubborn inflation.
Last week, Fed Chair
