HONG KONG: Markets tumbled in Asia and Europe on Monday to extend a global rout while the dollar soared after a forecast-beating United States inflation print ramped up bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would be more aggressive in hiking interest rates. "For the last few weeks, there has been a cautious calm in markets — rates not pricing anything unforeseen, and equities able to make small gains," SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes said. "The market is now thinking much more about the Fed driving rates sharply higher to get on top of inflation and then having to cut back as growth drops." Wall Street's three main indexes tanked, with the Nasdaq taking the heaviest blow as technology firms — which are susceptible to higher rates — were battered, while European markets were also hammered. "The ongoing backdrop to the yen's fall is the growing gap between long-term interest rates in Japan and the US," Takahide Kinouchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute, said in a recent commentary.

Source: Manila Times June 14, 2022 04:32 UTC