SINGAPORE : Asian shares eased away from their lowest levels in 10 months but were on course to clock their worst quarterly performance in a year as worries over elevated interest rates dragged on sentiment, while the dollar held strong.
Japan's Nikkei was 0.10 per cent lower, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.21 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.64 per cent. The Chinese markets were closed for a holiday and are on a break next week. "During the most recent Fed press conference, Powell mentioned that while the Fed doesn’t target levels of real GDP, it evaluates whether it poses a risk to achieving the 2 per cent inflation target," said Ryan Brandham, head of global capital markets, North America at Validus Risk Management.
The recent rise in Treasury yields to 16-year highs has cast a shadow over the stock market, with the Federal Reserve's hawkish tilt last week also weighing on risk sentiment. In foreign exchange market, the dollar index eased 0.057 per cent to 106.10 but hovered near the 10 month high of 106.84 it touched earlier this week. The index is up 2.4 per cent this month and set for second straight month of gains.