- Stocks in Asia fell, with China's weakness adding to the risk-off sentiment after Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed interest rates will remain high for a longer period of time.
- A regional share index fell for the third straight session as benchmarks from Australia to South Korea fell, with Chinese stocks also falling three days in a row. Japan's Topix Index recovered early losses on the first trading day of the new year following a holiday break.
- In Asia, US stock futures were flat after the S&P 500 ended 0.8% lower on Wednesday, extending a series of daily drops that began on the last trading day of 2023. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.1%, marking the fourth daily decline and the longest losing streak in two months.
- The focus will now shift to impending US job statistics on Friday, as minutes from the Fed's December meeting showed that interest rates could remain restrictive "for some time." After factoring in a complete quarter point decrease to the benchmark rate by the March meeting, swaps traders have started reducing their bets on rate cuts.
