JAKARTA March 5 (Reuters): Indonesia s rupiah was hovering around four-month lows on Friday as rising US bond yields sent the dollar higher and hit appetite for Asia s emerging currency and stock markets.
Stock markets in Asia suffered early falls following overnight comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who reiterated the Fed s policy stance as appropriate, even though he thought the recent bond sell-off was notable .
By midday, Asian markets recovered some ground, with most standing less than half a percent lower, and Chinese stocks gaining again. Any fallout has been limited in Asia thus far thanks to China, said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at OANDA. China set a more than 6% growth target for 2021 at its parliamentary meeting, having skipped a target last year due to the pandemic.