Taiwan was an unhappy exception, though, with a 3.4% slide – a delayed reaction to the global tech rout after markets there were shuttered the previous two days by a typhoon.
Currency markets stabilised as well, with the yen finding a home around 154 per dollar following its surge from a three-decade low near 162 just over two weeks ago. On Thursday, it reached a nearly two-month peak of 151.945 per dollar.
Investors were frantically unwinding long-held bearish yen bets and/or seeking a safe haven play with the Japanese currency, spurred by a spate of weak U.S. economic data, the global equity sell-off, and growing speculation of a Bank of Japan rate hike next week – not to mention the helping hand of some deft currency intervention by Tokyo.
IG analyst Tony Sycamore said there’s “a brick wall of demand” for dollars around 152 yen that he expects to hold firm until Wednesday of next week, when both the BOJ and Fed decide policy. “After that, all bets are off.”
