- Stocks fell deeper into a bear market as bond yields rose on rising expectations of more aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes to combat high inflation.
- The MSCI Asia-Pacific share index fell more than 1.5%, with bourses from Japan to China and Hong Kong falling. Following a nearly 9% drop in the S&P 500 over three days, US futures have stabilised. Oracle Corp.'s strong earnings lifted battered technology shares in extended US trading.
- Short-term treasuries fell again, while the benchmark 10-year yield remained near its highest level since 2011. An inverted US yield curve heightens fears of an economic downturn caused by tighter monetary policy.
- Australian and New Zealand debts have also declined. To keep yields in check, the Bank of Japan increased scheduled purchases of five-to-ten-year bonds to 800 billion yen ($6 billion). The yen rose from a two-decade low against the dollar.
- Traders now expect the Fed's September decision to tighten by about 200 basis points, with the possibility of a 75 basis-point hike. They predict that the overnight rate will reach 4% by mid-2023. The dollar was trading near a two-year high.
- The risk-asset selloff has harmed speculative investments. Bitcoin fell as much as 9.6% to around $21,000, owing in part to the suspension of operations by a digital-asset lending platform.
