HONG KONG, June 14 — Asian shares tumbled today after Wall Street hit a confirmed bear market milestone and bond yields struck a two-decade high on fears aggressive US interest rate hikes would push the world’s largest economy into recession.Australian shares sank 5 per cent in early trade, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index was down 1.74 per cent.
“The US will see rate rises faster and higher than Wall Street has been expecting,” James Rosenberg, Ord Minnett advisor in Sydney told Reuters. The benchmark S&P 500 is now down more than 20 per cent from its most recent record closing high, confirming a bear market, according to a commonly used definition.
The two-year yield, which rises with traders’ expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 3.4002 per cent compared with a US close of 3.281 per cent.