Asian shares take a beating on hawkish Fed comments

BENGALURU: Asian shares were under pressure on Thursday as indications by U.S. policymakers of aggressive rate hikes and balance sheet reductions sparked a selloff in the region, with equities in the Philippines leading losses.

Stocks in Manila fell 2.6% to mark their worst session in more than three weeks.

The Thailand index shed 1.6% to track its biggest dip in a month, while South Korean and Taiwanese shares also fell over 1% each.

Minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting in March released overnight showed deepening concerns among policymakers that inflation had broadened through the economy, and hinted at policymakers agreeing on balance sheet reductions.

Investors are gauging whether the Fed's views could jolt the flattened Treasury yield curve, which has been signalling a potential recession on the horizon. Yields on U.S.

Treasury securities ticked higher following the minutes, with returns on the 10-year note climbing to 2.6%.

"Asia bond curves have steepened dramatically, compared with the United States. This is unlikely to reverse until the U.S. front-end rates stabilizes," analysts at Bank of America said in a note.

Yields on Singapore's 10-year bond edged lower to 2.484% but were hovering at over three-year highs hit in the previous session. Indonesia's benchmark bonds rose to 6.787%.

Meanwhile, worries about rising COVID-19 cases in China also persisted. Shanghai, under a city-wide lockdown, reported over 19,000 new cases on April 6, although a vast majority was asymptomatic.

China's stocks fell over 1%. Investors have also been eyeing global central banks' policy moves to tackle runaway inflation and geopolitical tensions.

Inflationary pressures due to global supply snags, made worse by the Ukraine crisis, have compelled some Asian central banks to shake off their long-held reluctance to follow their global peers to hike interest rates.

The Philippines central bank said it would more closely watch inflation expectations, a change of stance compared to its previous more passive approach.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore in a meeting next week is likely to tighten its policy setting for the third time in a row, while the Reserve Bank of India on Friday is expected to wait until at least August to begin hiking rates, according to two separate Reuters polls.

A third Reuters poll showed bearish bets on most Asian currencies eased as regional central banks looked more keen on normalising policy, with investors turning bullish on the Singapore dollar for the first time in over a month.

Some regional currencies see-sawed between positive and negative terrains as aggressive policy tightening worries in the U.S. sent the dollar to a near two-year high.

The Philippine peso depreciated 0.2%, South Korean won weakened 0.1%, while the Thai baht rose 0.1% after having lost 0.2% earlier in the day.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Sun Vending Technology and Energy Absolute lead losses on Thailand's Benchmark index

** China to 'steadily control' exports of some high carbon petrochemical products