Dollar rises above 110 yen on looming Fed rate hike

Its stock gained $1.14, or 8.5 percent, to $14.50.

BONDS: Investors continued to sell US government bonds at a rapid clip, and bond prices wobbled and turned lower. Also, “consumer spending has continued to post moderate gains, supported by solid growth in real disposable income, upbeat consumer confidence, low borrowing rates, and the ongoing effects of earlier increases in household wealth”, Yellen said.

USA stocks had been on a tear since Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the US presidential election last week as his proposals to increase infrastructure spending and reduce taxes are seen benefiting the economy. A rate hike in U.S. will lead to flow of money from emerging markets leaving their currencies and assets vulnerable to the negative risks. Adding to this, was the lower opening in the domestic stock market. Teen clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch fell $1.93, or 11.4 percent, to $15 after it reported weak sales and a smaller profit than analysts had expected, and Gap gave up $3.64, or 11.9 percent, to $27.07.

Hong Kong added 0.1 percent in the afternoon and Sydney climbed 0.4 percent, but Shanghai fell 0.5 percent while Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Mumbai were all lower. Appreciating dollar also pulled down a host of global currencies including euro and Japanese yen.

Retail sales volumes jumped by 1.9 percent on the month in October after edging up 0.1 percent in September, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday, nearly double the highest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

At 12:34 p.m. ET (1734 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 36.3 points, or 0.19 percent, at 18,867.52, about 67 points shy of the record it hit on November 14. They later eased to close at just over 2 per cent. Holdings have fallen by almost 30 tonnes since the USA election.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$6.13 billion (US$192 million) worth of shares on the main board on Friday, while the weighted index closed up 0.15 percent.

The dollar index, hit 101.48, its highest since early April 2003 before retreating to 101.27, up 0.4 percent on the day.

The 10-year note fell 11/32 in price to yield 2.263 per cent.

Jonathan Wright, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a former Fed economist, said: “A rate hike in December is a done deal, barring a significant surprise in the next jobs numbers or in financial markets”.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was up 30 cents at $45.72 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude, which is used to price worldwide oils, rose 34 cents to $46.83 a barrel in London.