Japanese yen hits 150 against the U.S. dollar; Asia-Pacific markets lower (Oct 21)

Japanese yen hits 150 against the U.S. dollar; Asia-Pacific markets lower (Oct 20)

Shares in the Asia-Pacific traded lower on Thursday as economic fears weigh.

The Japanese yen weakened past 150 per U.S. dollar late in Asia’s afternoon, a 32-year low against the greenback. It last traded at 149.85 per dollar.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong pared some of its earlier losses and traded 1.33% lower in the final hour of trade after dipping 3%, hitting its lowest level since May 2009. The Hang Seng Tech index was 2.08% lower.

The offshore yuan strengthened after Bloomberg reported that officials are debating reducing Covid quarantines to 7 days from 10 days, and was last at 7.2527 per dollar. The currency earlier touched a record low against the U.S. dollar overnight at 7.2786.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed 0.31% lower at 3,035.05 after struggling for direction, while the Shenzhen Component shed 0.561% to 10,965.33.

TICKER	COMPANY	NAME	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.N225	Nikkei 225 Index	*NIKKEI	26890.58	-116.38	-0.43
.HSI	Hang Seng Index	*HSI	16211.12	-69.1	-0.42
.AXJO	S&P/ASX 200	*ASX 200	6676.8	-53.9	-0.8
.SSEC	Shanghai	*SHANGHAI	3038.93	3.88	0.13
.KS11	KOSPI Index	*KOSPI	2213.12	-4.97	-0.22
.FTFCNBCA	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	*CNBC 100	6729.52	-80.78	-1.19

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.92% to 27,006.96 and the Topix shed 0.51% to 1,895.41. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 1.02% to 6,730.70.

South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.86% to 2,218.09 and the Kosdaq was 1.47% lower at 680.44. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.87%.

U.S. stocks fell as Treasury yields climbed on Wednesday stateside, and the benchmark 10-year yield touched 4.174% on Thursday in Asia, the highest level since July 23, 2008.

The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.85% to close at 10,680.51, while the S&P 500 declined 0.67% to 3,695.16. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 99.99 points, or 0.33%, to finish the day at 30,423.81.