Asian Stocks Follow Wall Street Lower as Dollar Rises

Asian stocks were broadly lower on Thursday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed February lower, breaking their longest winning streaks since 1959. The Nasdaq also closed the month lower, its first monthly loss in eight months with a loss of 1.9 percent. The Dow ended the month 4.3 percent lower and the S&P finished February down 3.9 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.76 percent as of 1:33 p.m. HK/SIN after sinking over 1 percent yesterday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.21 percent while the Kospi was down 1.17 percent. Chinese markets were the only ones in positive territory after data released from a private survey showed that China’s manufacturing sector is nearing a six-month high. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.29 percent on the news.

The markets have been shaken by the latest statements from new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell who hinted to several interest rate hikes in 2018. The dollar has soared following the announcement, with the dollar index hitting a six-week high of 90.744 .DXY early in Thursday’s Asian session, rebounding from a three-year low of 88.253 hit earlier in February. The dollar was trading at $1.2191 against the euro and 106.74 against the yen. Though the stronger dollar usually threatens commodity prices, oil prices remained relatively stable on Thursday morning, with U.S. WTI futures trading up 0.06 percent to $61.68 per barrel and Brent crude futures down 0.11 percent to $64.66 per barrel. Gold was down 0.21 percent.

Asian stocks were broadly lower on Thursday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed February lower, breaking their longest winning streaks since 1959. The Nasdaq also closed the month lower, its first monthly loss in eight months with a loss of 1.9 percent. The Dow ended the month 4.3 percent lower and the S&P finished February down 3.9 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.76 percent as of 1:33 p.m. HK/SIN after sinking over 1 percent yesterday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.21 percent while the Kospi was down 1.17 percent. Chinese markets were the only ones in positive territory after data released from a private survey showed that China’s manufacturing sector is nearing a six-month high. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.29 percent on the news.

The markets have been shaken by the latest statements from new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell who hinted to several interest rate hikes in 2018. The dollar has soared following the announcement, with the dollar index hitting a six-week high of 90.744 .DXY early in Thursday’s Asian session, rebounding from a three-year low of 88.253 hit earlier in February. The dollar was trading at $1.2191 against the euro and 106.74 against the yen. Though the stronger dollar usually threatens commodity prices, oil prices remained relatively stable on Thursday morning, with U.S. WTI futures trading up 0.06 percent to $61.68 per barrel and Brent crude futures down 0.11 percent to $64.66 per barrel. Gold was down 0.21 percent.

Sara Patterson
Sara Patterson has a Master’s Degree in political science and enjoys analyzing both current events and the international markets to get a fuller perspective of the currency market. Before turning to financial writing, she taught English writing skills to high-school age students. Sara’s work has been published on various financial and Forex blogs.