Asian shares head for 3rd week of losses on China woes, US rates
rates staying higher for longer as long-term bond yields surged. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were up 0.1% after hitting a nine-month low the session before. It was, however, headed for a weekly loss of 2.8%, the third straight week of declines.
Japan's Nikkei lost 0.4% and was down 3% on the week. Data early on Friday showed Japan's core inflation slowed in July, a result that is likely to support market wagers that the Bank of Japan is in no hurry to phase out monetary easing anytime soon. China's blue-chips rebounded 0.2%, while the Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.3%.
Chinese property giants gained 0.3%, pulling away from a nine-month low hit just a session ago. Adding to concerns of a deepening crisis in China's property sector, China Evergrande, one of the country's biggest real estate developers, on Thursday filed for protection from creditors in a U.S. bankruptcy court.
China stocks have shed 10% from their highs in January, as dismal economic data laid bare the stuttering post-pandemic recovery, with investors remaining unimpressed with just piecemeal support measures from policymakers. «At the start of the year China's economy was powering ahead. But the picture has gradually worsened since, and now looks quite bleak,» said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics.
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