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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks past an electric monitor displaying Japan’s Nikkei share average and recent movements, outside a bank in Tokyo, Japan, June 5, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato
By Ankur Banerjee
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares slipped on Thursday after a surprise interest rate hike by Bank of Canada revived worries that U.S. rates could stay higher for longer and the Federal Reserve could remain hawkish when it meets next week.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.53%, while edged 0.08% higher. Australia’s eased 0.09%.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) surprised markets on Wednesday by hiking its overnight rate to a 22-year high of 4.75%, with traders expecting another increase next month to ratchet down an overheating economy and stubbornly high inflation.
The BoC had been on hold since January to assess the impact of previous hikes.
“The BoC appears to feel that the resiliency in the economy allows it to be more aggressive in bringing inflation under control,” said Ryan Brandham, head of global capital markets, North America at Validus Risk Management.
The move from the BoC comes after Australia’s central bank also stunned markets by hiking interest rates earlier this week. The Reserve Bank of Australia also warned of more rate hikes to temper rising pricing pressures.
Two central banks in a row have now surprised hawkish, raising the risks of a Fed surprise next week, Saxo Markets strategists said in a note.
Markets are now pricing in a 68% chance of the Fed standing still next week, compared to 78% just a day earlier, the CME FedWatch tool showed. Traders are pricing for a 25 basis point hike in July.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the Fed to not raise rates at its June 13-14 meeting, but a significant minority expects at least one more hike this year.
More than 90% of economists, 78 of 86, polled during June 2-7 said the Federal Open Market Committee would hold its federal funds rate at 5.00%-5.25%.
China shares slipped 0.3% , while Hong Kong’s fell 0.57%.
Data on Wednesday showed May exports in China slumped 7.5% year-on-year, the biggest decline since January and far below the 0.4% decline analysts expected.
“The weak export numbers will have observers looking for a new round of policy stimulus,” Saxo strategists said.
Treasury yields were stable in early Asian hours after surging overnight after the move from Canada’s central bank.
The yield on was up 0.7 basis points to 3.791%, while…
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