MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8% to its lowest level in two years, while Japan's Nikkei lost 1.75%.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8% to its lowest level in two years, while Japan's Nikkei lost 1.75%.
Risk-off sentiment is dominating global markets, said Yuting Shao, macro strategist at State Street Global Markets. The focus for this week will be macro data including the Consumer Price Index from the US on Wednesday, and comments from Federal Reserve Officials as investors look for clues for the outcome of the Fed’s upcoming policy meeting before officials enter the pre-meet blackout period.
Additionally, the surging cost of energy in Europe is a major fear as the biggest single pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to Germany entered annual maintenance, with flows expected to stop for 10 days.