© Reuters.
Investing.com– Asian stocks sank on Thursday, reversing some recent gains as strong U.S. retail sales data pushed up Treasury yields, while Chinese stocks fell sharply on signs of continued headwinds for the property market.
Regional markets also saw a measure of profit taking after a strong set of gains earlier this week, as markets priced in a greater chance that the Federal Reserve was done raising interest rates.
But these bets were somewhat offset by stronger-than-expected U.S. on Wednesday, which sparked a rebound in Treasury yields and the dollar. Strength in retail spending still has the potential to push up inflation and draw a hawkish response from the Fed.
This provided a weak lead-in to regional markets, with Japan’s falling 0.8% even as data showed some improvement in .
South Korea’s shed 0.2%, while led losses in Southeast Asia with a 0.4% drop.
Australia’s fell 0.5% as data showed a bigger-than-expected jump in through October. But a higher and weakening growth in hours worked suggested that the labor market may be cooling after a strong run over the past year.
A softer labor market gives the Reserve Bank of Australia less…
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