by BLOOMBERG

HONG KONG • Asian shares dropped for a third day, with materials companies tumbling, as the dollar rose ahead of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s second congressional appearance this week yesterday.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.7% to 176.08 as of 4:31pm in Hong Kong yesterday, set to close at a two-week low. Japan’s Topix fell 1.6%, the most since Feb 9. Markets in South Korea and Thailand were closed for a holiday.

Concern about a faster pace of US rate hikes weighed on equities, providing a good opportunity to buy at lower prices, said Nader Naeimi, head of dynamic markets at AMP Capital Investors Ltd, who oversees about US$120 billion (RM470.88 billion).

“Markets seem to be keen to force (US Fed chairman Jerome) Powell’s hand into the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting,” which will happen later this month, Naeimi said. “Another leg down in equities would be a great entry point in EM (emerging-market) stocks”.

The Asian benchmark’s material sub-gauge dropped 1.6%, the most among all industry groups. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co slumped 4.4% in Tokyo, the most in three weeks. Australia’s Orica Ltd lost 3.5% after the company said it expects impairment charges of A$300 million (RM909 million).

Chinese property shares offset some of the region’s losses after research house CRIC forecast strong February home sales for large developers. Shimao Property Holdings Ltd jumped 4.3% in Hong Kong.

Nikkei 225 dropped 1.6%, Hang Seng Index gained 0.7%, Hang Seng China Enterprises Index added 0.4%, Shanghai Composite Index up 0.4%, S&P/ ASX 200 down by 0.7%, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 fell 0.4%, Sensex little changed, Nifty 50 advanced 0.1%, Sensex Index little changed, Straits Times Index fell 0.1%, Jakarta Composite Index up 0.1%, Philippine Stock Exchange PSEi Index declined 0.1% and Vietnam’s VN Index dropped 0.5%.

Meanwhile, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 0.4% as of 9:15am London time yesterday, the lowest in two weeks. The MSCIAll-CountryWorldIndex decreased 0.3% to the lowest in more than two weeks. Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined less than 0.05% to the lowest in a week. The UK’s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.3% to the lowest in more than two weeks.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.1% to the highest in six weeks. The euro declined less than 0.05% to US$1.2189, the weakest in six weeks. The Australian dollar dipped 0.5% to 0.773 per dollar, the weakest in more than two months. South Africa’s rand sank 0.7% to 11.8831 per dollar, the weakest in more than two weeks. The British pound decreased 0.1% to US$1.3745, the weakest in almost seven weeks.

The yield on 10-year US Treasuries fell two basis points to 2.84%, the lowest in more than two weeks. Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to 0.63%, the lowest in almost five weeks. Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 1.5%, the lowest in a month. — Bloomberg