* Investors looking for signs of faster policy normalization
* The Fed is likely to be able to make more rosy forecasts, but no policy change is expected
* The political decisions of BOE, BOJ will also be presented this week
TOKYO / NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) – Asian stocks fell on Wednesday, following Wall Street, as investors waited to see if the U.S. Federal Reserve would point to a faster path to policy normalization than was expected earlier.
The US Central Bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will end a meeting two days later.
A regional equity index without Japan sank 0.3%, driven by the decline of Kospi in South Korea and the Australian S & P / ASX 200.
Shanghai’s composite index fell 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2%.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 reduced the trend to add 0.1%, but the broader Topix index was flat to slightly lower.
Global markets have been rocked in recent weeks by a drop in Treasury that saw benchmark yields rise to a one-year high as bond investors bet that the acceleration in COVID-19 vaccinations and massive fiscal stimulus would stimulate faster-than-expected growth. inflation in the world’s largest economy.
Volatility sparked speculation about the possibility that the Fed will be forced to technically adjust the levers that control its policy type, but few expect the central bank to act on it at this week’s meeting, even if it releases forecasts of growth more rosy.
“We expect (President Jerome) Powell that the FOMC will have the tools to intervene if the bond market is disrupted or limits the economic recovery,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia analysts wrote.
“But we expect Powell to step back against the discussion about tightening policies because of the large amount of arrow in the labor market.”
“Yields on U.S. bonds and the U.S. dollar could increase if the post-FOMC statement and Powell’s statement are not considered obscure enough.”
Treasury yields at the 10-year benchmark continued to consolidate at around 1.6%, reaching 1.6197% on Wednesday in Asia. They reached 1.6420% on Friday for the first time since February last year.
A dollar tracking index against six major pairs maintained around 91.90 after withdrawing a three-month high of 92,506, touched last week.
The currency market caution can be extended all week, as the Bank of England will announce its policy decision on Thursday and the Bank of Japan will end on Friday a policy review in which it can eliminate a numerical target for the purchase of ‘assets.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.39% to 32,825.95 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.16% to 3,962.71. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.09% to 13,471.57.
On Tuesday, E-mini futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.04%.
Gold prices rose to a two-week high ahead of higher inflation prospects.
Spot gold rose about 0.2% to $ 1,734.81 an ounce.
Oil prices were lower amid concerns over demand after Germany, France and other European countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a move that could slow the region’s economic recovery. .
Brent crude futures fell 12 cents to $ 68.27 a barrel and U.S. crude futures fell 3 cents to $ 64.77 a barrel.
Reports by Kevin Buckland; Edited by Kim Coghill