- Asian stocks fell alongside Wall Street on Thursday, as hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting minutes dampened investor sentiment.
- Japan, Australia, South Korea, and Hong Kong equity benchmarks all fell, while mainland Chinese shares remained flat. The Tokyo Topix index fell for the third time in a row, wiping out the benchmark's 20% gain this year. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell as much as 1.4%.
- The S&P 500 fell 0.2% on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq 100 dropped less than 0.1%. Contracts for these indices fell in early Asian trading as investors awaited US jobs data over the next two days, which will shed more light on the path of interest rates.
- Australian and New Zealand 10-year government bond yields rose to 2023 highs on Wednesday, following further gains by their US counterparts. Australian exports increased in May, pushing the country's trade balance to $11.8 billion, exceeding expectations.
- Treasuries held steady in Asia on Thursday after the 10-year yield jumped to 3.93% the previous session and the two-year rate edged up to 4.94%, putting both maturities near their highest levels since March.
- The moves were sparked by Fed minutes showing policymakers divided over the decision to pause at the central bank's June meeting, with voting members on track to raise rates this month.
