Yen hits 150/dollar as APAC stocks dip

On Thursday, shares in the Asia-Pacific region fell as a result of growing economic concerns. Late in the Asian afternoon, the Japanese yen dropped below 150 per U.S. dollar, a 32-year low against the dollar. The most recent price per dollar was 149.85.

After falling 3 percent and reaching its lowest point since May 2009, the Hong Kong Hang Seng index partially recovered some of its earlier losses and traded 1.33 percent lower in the final hour of trading. The Hang Seng Tech index dropped by 2.08%.

Following reports that officials are considering cutting Covid quarantines from 10 days to 7, the offshore yuan gained momentum and was last trading at 7.2527 per dollar. Overnight, the exchange rate of the currency to the US dollar reached a record low of 7.2786.

The Shanghai Composite in mainland China struggled to find its footing and ended the day 0.31 percent lower at 3,035.05, while the Shenzhen Component fell 0.561 percent to 10,965.33.

In Japan, the Topix fell 0.51 percent to 1,895.41 and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.92 percent to 27,006.96. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.02 percent to 6,730.70.

The Kosdaq was down 1.47 percent at 680.44 and the Kospi was down 0.86 percent at 2,218.09 in South Korea. The largest MSCI index of shares outside of Japan for Asia-Pacific declined by 0.87 percent.

U.S. stocks declined on Wednesday as Treasury yields increased domestically, and on Thursday in Asia, the benchmark 10-year yield reached 4.174 percent, the highest level since July 23, 2008.

The S&P 500 fell 0.67 percent to 3,695.16, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.85 percent to close at 10,680.51. To end the day at 30,423.81, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 99.99 points or 0.33 percent.