Most markets fluctuated in Asian trade Tuesday as traders grow increasingly fearful that more big interest rate hikes will tip economies into deep recessions, with the mood also darkened by the worsening Ukraine war and worries over China’s outlook.
With the focus on inflation, analysts said consumer price index data released later this week will be crucial to the direction of risk assets — another big reading could spark a fresh equity selloff and surge in the dollar.
Investors had hoped that a series of bumper rate increases by the US Federal Reserve this year would begin to drag on the economy and slow runaway prices, allowing policymakers to slow down their pace of monetary tightening.
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