Asian stocks tracked Wall Street losses and the yen fell on Friday as investors remained filled with uncertainty over how aggressively the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates to tackle inflation despite softer numbers earlier this week.
The slight easing of inflation readings this week had driven global stocks higher and capped a rising dollar, until a string of Fed speakers put paid to expectations of the central bank going slow on further policy tightening. China's blue-chip stock index posted its biggest jump in more than 3 months on Thursday.
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank president Mary Daly said on Thursday that while a 50 basis point rate hike next month"makes sense" given economic data, she'd be open to a bigger hike if necessary. The rate is currently in the 2.25 per cent-2.5 per cent range. US 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR held firm after rising overnight and were last trading at 2.8766 per cent.