SINGAPORE, May 31 ― Stocks wobbled and bonds fell in Asia, while the dollar rose today after a hot inflation reading in Germany heightened nerves about the pace and scale of looming interest rate hikes.
Chinese Purchasing Managers' Index figures showed another month of contraction in services and manufacturing activity, though at a reduced pace of decline. “The two largest economies in the world are slowing, for different reasons, and it's not great for the global growth trajectory.” Factory output in the third-largest economy, Japan, also dropped sharply in April as Chinese demand withered, data today showed.
Hawkish remarks from US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller also wound back recent expectations that the Fed might pause for breath after hikes in June and July. The dollar traded today at US$1.0744 per euro, up 0.3 per cent, and ¥128.16, about 0.4 per cent higher.