Japan -0.60%.
China market closed.
Hong Kong market closed.
Australia -1.64%.
India -0.05%.
New Zealand data – May credit card spending +3.3% y/y (vs. +13.9% expected).
NZ data: May Exports NZD 6.99bn (prior 6.8bn) & Imports 6.95bn (prior 6.38bn).
In the U.S. on Wednesday, all three major indexes ended lower for the 3rd consecutive day, dampened by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s largely hawkish reiteration that more rate hikes were likely. The Dow industrial average -102.37 points or -0.30% at 33951.40, S&P index -22.99 points or -0.52% at 4365.73, Nasdaq index -165.10 points or -1.21% at 13502.19.
Powell in his published opening remarks to his two-day testimony to Congress said that nearly all policymakers expect that interest rates would have to be raised further by the end of the year.
Powell’s comments haven’t appeared to largely alter market expectations around rates, with the CME FedWatch tool still showing only one more hike priced in for the rest of the year as opposed to the two projected by the Fed.
Coming up in the session: SNB and BOE June monetary policy decisions are in the spotlight in European trading.
Oil steady on Thursday after surprise dip in U.S. crude stocks offsets demand fears. Brent futures slipped 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $77.04 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 5 cents, or 0.1%, at $72.48 at 0015 GMT.
Spot gold dropped 0.1% to $1,929.69 an ounce, just above a three-month low it touched on Wednesday.
Separately, crypto prices also surged in the last 24 hours, with bitcoin breaking above the $30,000 mark for the first time since April 26.
U.S. stock futures slipped on Thursday: Dow -0.12%; S&P 500 -0.19%; Nasdaq -0.33%.
Currencies: (JPY:USD), (CNY:USD), (AUD:USD), (INR:USD), (HKD:USD), (NZD:USD).
