TOKYO - Asian stocks lacked direction on Wednesday, while the dollar remained firm despite lower U.S. Treasury yields as markets assessed mixed signals from U.S. policymakers and economic data on the path for Federal Reserve interest rates.
Japan's Nikkei slumped about 1% as traders took profits following the previous session's 1.6% surge. The tech-heavy index also succumbed to pressure from a sell-off in U.S. chip stocks on Tuesday.The yen slipped 0.16% to 154.94 per dollar, even as Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki expressed deep concern over the negative impact of a weak currency and reiterated a readiness to respond to excessive volatility.
And while prices have been sticky, the labour market showed some signs of weakening in the monthly payrolls data from Friday. Consumer price data in a week from now will be closely watched.