Stocks retreat, US yields advance, dollar strengthens on hawkish Fed

HONG KONG: Asian stocks followed Wall Street's lead on Thursday, dipping across the board as investors interpreted the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy statements as signalling higher-for-longer interest rates.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4% by early afternoon Hong Kong time. Japan's Nikkei slid 0.6%. China's blue-chip dipped 0.6%, while Hong Kong's benchmark shed 1.3%.