Asian stocks slide as focus turns to U.S. jobs. As investors tempered their expectations for cuts to U.S. interest rates and waited for U.S. jobs data, Asian stocks fell to their lowest point in three weeks on Tuesday. Bonds and the dollar, on the other hand, remained stable.

As expected, the Australian dollar fell 0.5% after the central bank left interest rates on hold, emphasizing that future direction rates would depend on data.

During the early trading session, the MSCI broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) experienced a decline of 0.9%. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) was driven 1% down to a three-week bottom, primarily attributable to plunging chipmaking companies.

After a wild session on Monday, during which it reached a record high in Asia before precipitously falling, gold managed to maintain its position above $2,000 throughout the day.

Treasuries were under pressure overnight as traders calibrated aggressive pricing for U.S. interest rate cuts. Two-year yields rose 9.1 basis points (bps) and were steady at 4.64% in Asia trade.

Futures suggest about 125 bps of cuts in 2024 in response to a favorable inflation report three weeks ago. U.S. job openings data is due at 1530 GMT, and broader hiring figures, which showed signs of a slowdown in the job market last month, will be published on Friday.

“While it’s understandable the market has embraced the recent improvement in inflation and softer October labour market data, strong momentum in the economy remains,” ANZ analysts commented in a note to their clients. “We therefore expect that the (Fed), while encouraged by recent inflation improvements, will continue to adopt a hawkish policy stance.”

In Asian stock markets, Hong Kong shares declined, with the Hang Seng (.HSI) slumping to a fresh one-year low. 16,470, the index was trading below its high before the Asian financial crisis. Within a year in which global stocks have increased by 15%, the index has lost almost 17% of its value.

A slight increase occurred overnight in the currency markets for the dollar, which had experienced its most significant monthly decline in a year during November. The euro sat at $1.0837 on Tuesday, just above support at its 200-day moving average. The Australian and New Zealand dollars retreated from multi-month highs on Monday.

They were recently a touch weaker, with the Aussie losing 0.5% to $0.6583, where it was challenging support at its 200-day moving average. The Reserve Bank of Australia held interest rates on hold and emphasized, as it did a month earlier, that future rate adjustments would rely on data.

Falling coal and gas prices put Australia’s current account into deficit in the September quarter, statistics on Tuesday revealed. Core inflation in Tokyo dropped in November, leaving the yen unchanged at 147.22 per dollar.

In commodities trading, Brent oil futures held roughly stable at $78.31 a barrel, having dipped overnight on worries that producers would make additional supply cuts.

Chicago wheat has touched its highest level since late August following the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s verification of the largest one-off private sale to China in years.