SINGAPORE -- Bonds slipped, the dollar went up, and Asia's stock market made a shaky start to the second half on Friday, as investors become increasingly nervous about the global economic outlook.
The broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, with trade dwindling due to a holiday in Hong Kong.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7 percent. The US equity futures dropped about 0.2 percent, as Treasuries fell, lifting yields a bit along the curve.
The S&P 500 closed out its worst first-half since 1970 overnight, and the Treasury market has taken a beating in the past six months that Deutsche Bank estimates is the poorest in more than two centuries.
The central banks' response to inflation is responsible. The focus is now on any clues about whether or not it has peaked. Consumer price data in the Eurozone is due later on Friday and July data in the United States will be a big deal for financial markets.
The data released on Thursday showed that German inflation unexpectedly slowed last month, as did the pace of US consumer spending in May, leading to a pullback in rate-hike bets and increasing worries about economic weakness.
Steven Wieting, chief investment strategist at Citi Global Wealth Investments, said investors want a clear outlook, but the future does not present a steady, reliable recovery.
It was a time when the economy was depressed that we could put money to work here with a lot of confidence. He said we can't say that now.
Growth worries punched oil lower and Brent crude futures were last at $109.76 a barrel.
Even as markets have pulled back on aggressive interest rate forecasts and even priced Federal Reserve rate cuts as soon as mid- 2023, the uncertainty has kept a bid behind the US dollar.
The dollar had its best quarter since 2016 for the three months to the end of June and the euro and yen were losers. The dollar was firm on Friday and headed for a weekly gain, with the dollar index up 0.7 percent on the week to 104.830.