* Investors looking for signs of faster policy normalization
* Redder forecasts may be expected, but no policy change is expected
* BOE, BOJ political decisions are also due this week
TOKYO / NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) – Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as they watched Wall Street as investors waited to see if the US Federal Reserve would signal a faster path to policy normalization than previously expected.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US central bank will hold a meeting two days later that day.
A regional equities index, with the exception of Japan, fell 0.3%, driven by declines in Kospi in South Korea and the S & P / ASX 200 in Australia.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2%.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 dropped the trend to add 0.1%, but the broader Topix index was flat to slightly lower.
Global markets have been changed in recent weeks by a Treasury loss that has seen benchmark yields rise to a one-year high as bond investors have bet that accelerating COVID-19 vaccinations and massive fiscal stimulus would boost faster-than-expected growth and inflation in the world’s largest economy.
Volatility has sparked speculation that the Fed could be forced to make a technical adjustment to the levers that control its policy rate, but few expect the central bank to act on this issue at this week’s meeting, even if it launches growth forecasts. more pink.
“We expect (President Jerome) Powell to find that the FOMC has the tools to intervene if the bond market becomes disruptive or constrains the economic recovery,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia analysts wrote.
“But we expect Powell to push back against talks about tightening policies because of the high volume of weakening in the labor market.”
“US and USD bond yields could rise if the post-session FOMC statement and Powell’s statement are not considered sufficiently corrupt.”
The Treasury’s 10-year benchmark yields continued to consolidate at around 1.6%, standing at 1.6197% in Asia on Wednesday. They reached 1.6420% on Friday for the first time since February last year.
A dollar tracking index against six major colleagues, held at around 91.90, after withdrawing from a three-month high of 92.506, was reached last week.
Foreign market precautions could extend throughout the week, with the Bank of England announcing its policy decision on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan concluding a policy review on Friday in which it may phase out a numerical target to buy its 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. Nasdaq Composite rose 0.09% to 13,471.57.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.04% on Wednesday.
Gold prices have risen to their highest level in two weeks in the run-up to higher inflation.
Spot gold rose about 0.2% to $ 1,734.81 an ounce.
Oil prices were lower amid demand concerns after Germany, France and other European countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a move that could reduce the region’s economic recovery.
Crude oil futures fell 12 cents to $ 68.27 a barrel, and US crude fell 3 cents to $ 64.77 a barrel.
Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Montage by Kim Coghill