- A measure of Asian stocks fell from session highs, mirroring moves on Wall Street, as investors considered a slowdown in US inflation ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision.
- Japan, South Korea, and Australia saw gains of less than 1%, while Hong Kong and mainland China saw fluctuations.
- After the S&P 500 closed off its intraday high on Tuesday, US equity futures rose about 0.2% in Asia. Investors are looking for more clues on the Fed's interest-rate path from the decision later this week and Fed Powell's press conference.
- The dollar regained some ground against its G-10 counterparts on Tuesday, while emerging-market currencies strengthened against the greenback. The New Zealand dollar fell further after the government warned that a recession was likely next year.
- Treasuries were little changed after rallying on Tuesday, when data revealed that Fed Powell's key measure of service prices excluding energy and rents moderated again in November. While price pressures appear to have peaked, the headline CPI remains above 7%, indicating that the Fed still has work to do to keep inflation under control.
- Bonds in Australia rose, led by the rate-sensitive three-year maturity.
