* Wall Street drops, tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbles 3%
* 10-yr U.S. yield tops 1.75% as investors digest Fed
* Oil plunges 7% as dollar strength also weighs
*
(Rewrites throughout for Asia open)
By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Asian stocks are set to open
mostly lower on Friday, pressured by U.S. Treasury yields that
rose to 14-month highs overnight and oil prices, which fell by
their biggest one-day declines since last summer.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO lost 0.21% in early
trading, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures .HSI HSIc1
lost 0.72%.
In Japan, where the central bank will meet on Friday, the
Nikkei 225 futures NKc1 added 0.08%. E-mini futures for the
S&P 500 EScv1 rose 0.21%.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note on Thursday rose
above 1.75% for the first time in 14 months after the Federal
Reserve pledged to look past inflation and keep interest rates
near 0% until at least 2024, then ticked lower after the release
of mixed economic data. The jump in yields accelerated a move out of growth stocks
with the tech-heavy Nasdaq falling more than 3%. .N
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX fell from record highs while
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
0.71%.
Oil prices tumbled, falling for a fifth day in a row, on
growing worries about rising COVID-19 cases in Europe as several
large economies have had to reimpose lockdowns. France's prime minister imposed a month-long lockdown on
Paris and parts of the north after a faltering vaccine rollout
and spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants forced
President Emmanuel Macron to shift course. A rally in the dollar, which was supported by higher U.S.
bond yields, also pressured oil prices, as a stronger dollar
makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled down $4.72, or 6.9%, at
$63.28 a barrel, while U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled at
$60 a barrel, down $4.60, or 7.1%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
153.07 points, or 0.46%, to 32,862.3, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
58.66 points, or 1.48%, to 3,915.46 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 409.03 points, or 3.02%, to 13,116.17.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.40%.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 21/32 in price
to yield 1.7135%, from 1.641% late on Wednesday.
The U.S. dollar rallied across the board, as higher Treasury
yields helped it recoup losses from the previous session.
The dollar index =USD rose 0.482%, with the euro EUR= up
0.02% to $1.1917.
The Australian dollar rose 0.08% versus the greenback at
$0.776.
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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Rising U.S. Treasury yields https://tmsnrt.rs/3cNEpX5
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