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MORNING BIDDING: Markets Suffer Another Setback as Powell Dies Easing Hopes
Asian investors hoping for some relief from soaring U.S. bond yields and a ravaging dollar were deflated by Federal Reserve matron Jerome Powell's remarks on Tuesday, and will likely be on guard in Wednesday's trading. "Rather than giving us greater confidence, the recent data clearly suggests that realizing that confidence may take longer than expected," Powell said in Washington, a signal from the world of the Bubbles that inflation will not fall back to the central bank's 2% target as quickly as expected, and so interest rates will have to stay higher for a longer period of time. The "longer-term move higher" also seems to apply to the US dollar, bond yields and financial condition indices - a suboptimal grouping for Asian assets that are already feeling the heat.