investingLive Asia-Pacific market news: Fed hike bets ripple through Asia

Rising bets on further Federal Reserve rate hikes spread through Asian markets on Friday. Japanese government bonds slumped, the yen stayed close to 160 per dollar and bitcoin fell below $69,000. Regional stocks gave back much of an early rebound, as concern over Nvidia’s leadership change continued to weigh on AI-linked shares.

Japan’s 10-year yield rose about 7 basis points to around 2.87%, at the day’s high.

JGBs followed US Treasuries, which posted a second straight session of losses as traders added to bets on more forceful Fed tightening.

New York Fed President John Williams said overnight that inflation remains stubbornly high and that the Fed will need to act over time to bring it back to 2%.

His remarks followed this week’s hotter-than-expected October consumer price data, after which markets priced a high probability of a quarter-point hike at the Fed’s 9 December decision, along with an outside chance of a half-point move.

The Kospi reversed an early 2% advance to trade about 0.7% lower near 5,300, with SK Hynix down more than 2% and Samsung Electronics off about 0.6%.

Gold rose about 0.7% to near $3,914 and silver traded around $50.

Black Rock described the outlook for gold as more balanced, with central bank buying offsetting pressure from higher real yields and a firm dollar.

Société Générale expects January’s commodity index rebalancing to add about $3.3 billion of net buying in gold futures.

The yield advantage that Australian 10-year bonds held over Treasuries earlier in the year has disappeared, with the Fed leaning toward hikes and the RBA appearing to be on hold.