Asian shares tumbled to their lowest in seven weeks on Friday and the dollar stood tall as investors globally shunned riskier assets over fears that higher U.S. interest rates and China's reinforcement of its zero-COVID policy could hit growth hard.
Things looked less dire in Europe, where regional share futures fell 0.25% and FTSE futures lost 0.27%. U.S. futures were flat. ,
"Risks remain elevated for a policy mistake – either by not tightening quickly enough to combat inflation or being overly hawkish, resulting in the end of the current business cycle," said David Chao, global market strategist for APAC ex-Japan at Invesco.The market is pricing in an 87% chance of a monster 75 basis point rate hike from the Fed at its meeting in June, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.
U.S. yields are rising on expectations of a fast pace of rate hikes. The yield on U.S. 10-year notes was last 3.065% after crossing 3.1% overnight for the first time since November 2018. As investors moved towards less risky assets, the dollar index was at 103.75 on Friday, having hit a fresh 20-year peak of 103.94 overnight supported by expectations the U.S. will hike interest rates faster than other central banks. FRXSterling was trading around its lowest level against the dollar in nearly two years after falling 2.2% on Thursday. The Bank of England raised rates by 25 basis points as expected, but two policy makers expressed caution about rushing into future rate hikes.
Oil prices shrugged off concerns about global economic growth as worries about tightening supply underpinned prices ahead of the European Union's impending embargo on Russian oil.Gold was flat at $1876.4 an ounce.Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Jamie Freed and Sam Holmes
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