Nikkei 225 drags Asian stocks lower, Yellen eyed

The Asian stocks set-off a fresh week on a weaker footing, mainly driven by sharp sell-off in the Japanese stocks after the USD/JPY was heavily sold-off into poor US NFP data released last Friday.

Moreover, steep losses witnessed in the risk currencies such as the pound, Antipodeans etc., also dampen the sentiment around the Asian indices. Further, dwindling bets of a Fed rate hike this month or in July, following Friday’s NFP disaster, also added to the downbeat sentiment in the market.

The Japanese benchmark index, the Nikkei 225 now trades -0.66% around 16,500 levels as USD/JPY extends recovery to 107.20, up +0.58% on the day. Australia’s ASX 200 index gains +1.02% to 5,373 levels amid higher commodities’ prices.

While the Chinese equities wobble, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index now flipping to gains around 2,940, the CSI300 index trades -0.14% at 3,185 points. Hong Kong Hang Seng drops -0.24%.

Next in focus remains Fed Chair Yellen’s speech for fresh take on the US interest rates policy in wake of the latest worse-than expected US NFP data. US non-farm businesses added just 38,000 people to their payrolls last month, falling miles short of the 160,000 jobs analysts expected.