- Stocks in Asia fell following US market futures after two Federal Reserve officials said they were considering raising interest rates by 50 bps to combat stubbornly high inflation.
- An Asian market benchmark was projected to fall for the third week in a row, the longest such losing streak since October. Contracts for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were both lower after the actual indexes fell more than 1% on Thursday.
- For the third day in a row, a broad index of dollar strength rose, and the currency advanced versus all of its group-of-10 peers. The Chinese yuan fell for the sixth day in a row. Treasuries' losses were marginally extended. Last week, the rates on 2-yr and 10-yr treasuries reached new highs for 2023.
- Fed's Mester said she saw a compelling economic case for another 50 bps raise, and Fed's Bullard said he would not rule out backing a half-point increase rather than a quarter point at the Fed's March meeting. Their concerns came after US producer prices rose by the most since June in January.
