Manama: Asian equities stumbled on Wednesday while currencies were volatile. The benchmark KOSPI index fell nearly 2%, increasing its year-to-date losses to over 7%, making it the worst-performing major stock market in Asia this year. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which includes Samsung Electronics as a significant constituent, was down 0.32% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, French bond futures dropped 0.13% and European stock futures were 0.14% lower. According to Bahrain News Agency, investors are looking for more guidance on the Federal Reserve's potential policy direction next year, with significant attention on the November employment report due on Friday. Recent data indicated that U.S. job openings increased substantially in October, while layoffs fell by the most in a year and a half. This suggests that the labor market is slowing down in an orderly manner, despite another survey indicating employer hesitance in hiring additional workers. Market expectations now indicate a 72% probability of a 25 basis point rate cut this month, with a total of 80 bps of cuts anticipated by the end of the next year. U.S. central bankers have expressed continued confidence that inflation is moving towards their 2% target and have shown support for further rate cuts, although no strong consensus emerged on action during the next rate-setting meeting in two weeks. The focus is now on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is expected to deliver his last public remarks before the upcoming meeting on Wednesday. The dollar index, comparing the U.S. currency against six others, rose 0.12% to 106.45. Gold prices dropped 0.17% to $2,639 due to the strengthening dollar. Oil prices remained stable after a more than 2% rise in the previous session, as investors anticipate OPEC+ to announce an extension of supply cuts this week.
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