NEW YORK (Reuters) – Asian stocks are set to open mostly lower on Friday, pressured by U.S. Treasury yields that rose to 14-month highs overnight and oil prices, which fell by their biggest one-day declines since last summer.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.21% in early trading, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures lost 0.72%.
In Japan, where the central bank will meet on Friday, the Nikkei 225 futures added 0.08%. E-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.21%.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note on Thursday rose above 1.75% for the first time in 14 months after the Federal Reserve pledged to look past inflation and keep interest rates near 0% until at least 2024, then ticked lower after the release of mixed economic data.
The jump in yields accelerated a move out of growth stocks with the tech-heavy Nasdaq falling more than 3%. [.N]
The benchmark S&P 500 fell from record highs while MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.71%.
Oil prices tumbled, falling for a fifth day in a row, on growing worries about rising COVID-19 cases in Europe as several large economies have had to reimpose lockdowns.
France’s prime minister imposed a month-long lockdown on Paris and parts of the north after a faltering vaccine rollout and spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants forced President Emmanuel Macron to shift course.
A rally in the dollar, which was supported by higher U.S. bond yields, also pressured oil prices, as a stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Brent crude futures settled down $4.72, or 6.9%, at $63.28 a barrel, while U.S. crude oil futures settled at $60 a barrel, down $4.60, or 7.1%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 153.07 points, or 0.46%, to 32,862.3, the S&P 500 lost 58.66 points, or 1.48%, to 3,915.46 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 409.03 points, or 3.02%, to 13,116.17.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.40%.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 21/32 in price to yield 1.7135%, from 1.641% late on Wednesday.
The U.S. dollar rallied across the board, as higher Treasury yields helped it recoup losses from the previous session.
The dollar index rose 0.482%, with the euro up 0.02% to $1.1917.
The Australian dollar rose 0.08% versus the greenback at $0.776.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
