Fears of offshore selling of US assets – the so-called “Sell America” trade that emerged after last year’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements in April – gripped markets as Wall Street tumbled over 2 per cent overnight and the US dollar suffered its biggest fall in over a month. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 per cent. The 40-year Japanese government bond yields fell 11 basis points to 4.1 per cent, having surged 26 basis points a day earlier. The benchmark 10-year yield slipped two basis points to 4.2767 per cent, after jumping seven basis points overnight to a five-month high of 4.313 per cent amid a souring in sentiment on US assets. In the currency markets, the US dollar held steady at 98.57 against its major peers, having dropped 0.5 per cent overnight – the biggest daily fall since early December.

Source: The Irish Times January 21, 2026 11:47 UTC