Tokyo — Asian stocks slipped and the dollar stood by a two-decade high on the euro on Wednesday as investors’ fears deepened that the continent is leading the world into recession, while oil and European equity futures attempted to steady after a slide.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.42%, while Chinese blue chips fell 0.7%, dragged by worries about new Covid-19 cases in Shanghai risking fresh restrictions. “Right now defence is the name of the game. It’s the best strategy right now, because in a recession a lot of things can fall out of bed.”
In Tokyo, shares of commodities trading firms Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi dropped more than 5% after former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev threatened oil and gas supply cuts to Japan. Elsewhere the dollar also stood tall, holding the risk-sensitive Antipodean currencies near two-year lows and dunking spot gold prices to their lowest this year. The Aussie was last huddled at $0.6810 having slid 1.0% overnight to a two-year trough of $0.6762.