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Nikkei slides 1.7%, South Korea drops 2.2%

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Wall St tumbled overnight, bonds retreat

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Investors see Fed rate cut next month as a toss up

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Fed officials take hawkish view; US jobs data for Oct may

not be

available

By Stella Qiu

SYDNEY, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Asian shares joined a global

selloff on Friday as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve

officials doused hopes for a U.S. rate cut next month, while a

still messy data calendar added to the angst, hitting bonds, the

dollar and even gold.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.8% on Friday,

Australia's resources-heavy shares slid 1.5%, while

South Korea plunged 2.3%.

China will report its monthly activity figures later in

the day, after weak lending data flagged concerns from

households and businesses to take on more debt amid economic

uncertainties.

Overnight, Wall Street tumbled with steep losses in

Nvidia ( NVDA ) and other AI heavyweights on valuation concerns,

while Treasuries retreated as investors scaled back expectations

of a rate cut from the Fed in December to just 51%, down from

63% a day earlier.

The dollar failed to get a lift on higher yields, losing

ground to the likes of the yen and Swiss franc.

"The drawdown seen across assets was pronounced, and looking

across the suite of investible markets there were few places to

hide," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

"With the U.S. government open for business, traders now

await the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) schedule for key

economic data... So far, positioning has been set largely on

Tier 2 data, and that will need to be reconciled against the

headline data that truly drives the Fed's decision-making

process."

The White House, however, dashed hopes for a clearer view of

the U.S. economy any time soon, saying that the U.S.

unemployment rate for October may never be available. Adding to

the downbeat mood and pointing to worries about high inflation,

a growing number of Fed officials overnight signaled caution

about further rate cuts.

Alberto Musalem, who runs the St. Louis Fed Bank, said there

was limited room to ease further without becoming overly

accommodative, while Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said

interest rate policy should remain restrictive in order to put

downward pressure on inflation.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari told Bloomberg

that he opposed a rate cut last month and is on the fence about

December.

Treasuries fell overnight as investors pared back bets for a

Fed cut next month. Two-year Treasury yields held at

3.597%, having risen 3 basis points overnight, while the 10-year

yield rose 1 bp to 4.125%, after gaining 3 bps

overnight.

The rise in yields, however, failed to support the U.S.

dollar, which was down 0.2% against its major peers

overnight and was at 99.254, close to the lowest level in two

weeks.

The yen got some much-needed respite and last

traded at 154.7 per dollar, just a touch above a nine-month low

of 155.05 per dollar. The Swiss franc jumped 0.6% on the

dollar.

Sterling, however, lost 0.3% to $1.3153 on Friday after the

Financial Times reported Prime Minister Keir Starmer and finance

minister Rachel Reeves have ditched their manifesto-busting plan

to increase income tax rates.

Oil prices rose in early trade but were set for the third

straight week of declines. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude

gained 0.4% to $58.91, but were down 1.4% this week.

Spot gold prices rose 0.3% to $4,183 per ounce,

having lost 0.6% overnight to snap a four-day winning streak. It

remained well off its record top of $4,381.