Markets drop on economy worries, yen rallies after US debate

The yen hit a nine-month high against the dollar after a Bank of Japan official said it would keep tightening monetary policy if the economy performs

The yen hit a nine-month high against the dollar Wednesday as worries about the world's top two economies — the United States and China — kept traders on edge, despite optimism over an expected US rate cut.

Equities slipped as the closing bell rang on Wall Street, but European markets rose ahead of key US inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve.

The Japanese unit was also boosted by bets on a Kamala Harris presidency after she was considered to have come out on top in her US presidential debate with Donald Trump and superstar Taylor Swift endorsed her.

The chances of Trump losing also weighed on bitcoin after he had previously vowed to be a "pro-bitcoin president" if elected in November.

Markets were keeping a close eye on the US consumer price index later in the day for an insight into the Fed's plans at its next meeting on September 18 and what it could mean for the economy.

Another round of sub-par US jobs data last week revived worries that the world's top economy was slowing more than expected and could be on course for a recession.

They came a month after a stock rout caused by an equally bad reading on the labour market and added to debate about whether the Fed had waited too long to cut rates owing to its focus on bringing inflation down.

"The die has been cast for a rate cut by the Fed next week," Mark Zandi at Moody's Analytics told AFP.

"The CPI (consumer price index) would have to be well above the current consensus... to dissuade the Fed not to ease, and even then the higher CPI would have to be due to an unlikely broad-based re-acceleration in price increases.

"While a 50 basis points cut is possible, it is less than likely, regardless of the CPI print, as the Fed would cut that much only if something in the economy or financial system was going off the rails. That isn't happening."

On currency markets, the yen strengthened to 140.71 per dollar at one point -- its best level since the turn of the year -- after BoJ board member Junko Nakagawa said officials were determined to keep tightening policy.

The bank's surprise decision in July to hike for the second time in 17 years was a factor in the global markets sell-off days later as the yen surged and investors unwound their so-called carry trades in which they used the cheap currency to buy high-yielding assets such as stocks.

The strong debate performance by Harris also weighed on the dollar. Some observers have said Trump's policies -- including tax cuts and more China tariffs -- could push up inflation, which could cause the Fed to pause or slow down its rate cuts.

Bitcoin slipped more than one percent. Trump said in July that if he regained the White House, he would not allow the US government to sell its holdings of the cryptocurrency.

Oil prices bounced more than one percent after being hammered around four percent Tuesday, when Brent fell below $70 a barrel for the first time since December 2021 on concerns about the global outlook and after the OPEC oil cartel revised down its demand estimates.

But the gains were capped by expectations for a US rate cut and OPEC's decision to hold out on output increases.

- Key figures around 2110 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.5 percent at 35,619.77 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 17,079.67

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 2,721.80 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,223.70

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 141.36 yen from 142.44 yen on Tuesday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1045 from $1.1023

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3087 from $1.3083

Euro/pound: UP at 84.39 pence from 84.25 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $66.62 per barrel (close)

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.3 percent at $70.10 per barrel (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 40,736.96 points (close)

dan/pbt

AFP Agence France-Presse