TOKYO - Asian equities and US futures fell on Thursday , hurt by the US Federal Reserve's cautious view of the economy, tensions with China and new clusters of coronavirus infections.
Shares in China fell 1.28 per cent due to dwindling expectations for additional monetary easing after the People's Bank of China kept a benchmark lending rate unchanged on Thursday. The iPhone maker's shares rose 1.4 per cent to make the first publicly listed US company reach US$2 trillion in market capitalisation, while strong results from retailers Target and Lowe's also lifted sentiment.
"It was a decent day for banks, Apple, and Nike but everything else was in the reverse after the Fed said economic conditions will be difficult for a while," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. The readout on Fed discussions provides hints to further action that the US central bank could take in September. No change in interest rate policy is expected until end-2021.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell slightly to 0.6623 per cent while those on the 20-year bond also fell to 1.1725 per cent.