Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares slipped for an eighth straight session on Wednesday and the dollar rose as fresh hawkish comments from Fed officials kept investors on edge Caution ahead of this week’s Jackson Hole symposium.
Minneapolis Fed President Neil Kashkari is the latest official to reiterate the Fed’s focus on controlling inflation, saying on Tuesday that his biggest The concern is an underestimation of the extent of price pressure.
MSCI’s index of Asian shares outside Japan fell 0.2% in early trade, putting it on track for an eight-day losing streak if it persists. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.6%. (T)
Wall Street steadied overnight after two days of heavy losses, as weak U.S. data eased interest rate hike concerns. The data also eased pressure on short-term U.S. Treasuries. [.N]
U.S. services and manufacturing surveys disappointed on Tuesday, with new home sales falling to a 6-1/2-year low in July.
“It’s good news in some cases, the weaker the data now, the less the Fed has to do,” said ING economist Rob Carnell, but he said , there’s not much reason to expect the Fed to change its tune at this week’s Jackson Hole Symposium.
“It might be too early to jump the gun… If you start giving the market a little comfort, it might get better in time and you might end up sabotaging yourself.”
S&P 6897 futures fell 0.3% in Asia Europe and FTSE futures also retreated.
Brent Crude Oil futures hover around a barrel on signs of U.S. demand and Saudi Arabia’s talk of production cuts Dollar. Rising oil prices helped support Australia’s energy stocks. [O/R][.AX]
With little schedule ahead of Jackson Hole seminar, little movement elsewhere, USD/EUR remains near two decade highs .
The Australian and New Zealand dollars fell about 0.5%, pushing the Australian dollar to $0. 6897.
The euro, which briefly broke parity on Tuesday, struggled near $0. 9950 Growth is expected to be dragged down by another round of inflationary pressures triggered by soaring energy prices.
It hit a 20 year low of $0. 9901 Tuesday.
China’s economy is also faltering, and a modest rate cut will only draw attention to a weaker economy and a lack of confidence in the real estate sector and credit demand.
The Chinese yuan fell about 0.2% to 6.8519 against the US dollar. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.9%, with onshore blue chips down 0.7%.
