Asian Stocks Slide As Focus Turns To U.S. Jobs

Asian stocks dipped to three-week lows on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, while bonds and the dollar stabilized as investors tempered expectations for U.S. interest rate cuts and awaited US jobs data, according to Tom Westbrook's report for Reuters.

The Australian dollar saw a 0.5% decline after the central bank kept interest rates steady.

The Australian dollar saw a 0.5% decline after the central bank kept interest rates steady, emphasizing that future rate decisions would depend on incoming data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.9% in early trading, with Japan's Nikkei dropping 1%, reaching a three-week low, primarily influenced by declining chipmaking stocks.

Hong Kong shares led the declines in Asian stock markets, with the Hang Seng reaching a new one-year low.

Trading below its pre-Asian financial crisis high at 16,470, the index has experienced almost a 17% decline in a year when global stocks saw a 15% increase. In currency markets, the dollar, which faced its most significant monthly decline in a year in November, made a slight recovery overnight.

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