Asian shares skid as hot inflation data point to rate hikes

Shares are mostly lower in Asia after a sell-off on Wall Street spurred by news that inflation jumped 7.5% in January

BANGKOK -- Share fell Friday in Asia after Wall Street retreated on news that U.S. inflation jumped 7.5% in January, raising expectations the Federal Reserve will need to move forcefully to cool the economy by raising interest rates.

The S&P 500 sank 1.8% on the report inflation was the hottest since 1982. Bond yields jumped as traders bet the Fed may have to apply the brakes to the economy with a bigger-than-usual hike in interest rates next month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury topped 2% for the first time since August 2019, according to Tradeweb.

Asian economies also are feeling the heat of sharp price increases, with some like New Zealand already moving to raise interest rates. Others are holding off — central banks in Thailand, Indonesia and India opted this week to keep their benchmark rates unchanged.

Some countries in the region, such as China and Japan, are contending with both higher prices and slow growth and some are still entangled in coronavirus outbreaks that are clouding the outlook for their recoveries from the pandemic.