USD Strengthen Tech's Stock Fell As Fed's Chair Jerome Powell Was Re-nominated For A 2nd Term

U.S. shares fell on Tuesday in early Asia's trading, Asia-Pacific were also mostly lower as investors react to U.S. President Joe Biden picking Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares traded 0.42% lower as markets in Japan are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

Tech stocks in Asia fell on Tuesday, tracking losses seen by U.S. Nasdaq lower closed.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.26% to 15,854.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 17.27 points higher to 35,619.25 while the S&P 500 slipped 0.32% to 4,682.94.

Those moves came as investors on Wall Street reacted to Biden picking Powell for another term as Fed chair. Biden had been under pressure to name a more progressive Democrat, rather than keep Republican Powell in the role.

Powell has guided the U.S. central bank and the country’s economy through the pandemic recession, unleashing unprecedented monetary stimulus to keep financial markets afloat. His re-nomination now heads to the Senate for confirmation.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.51, higher in Asia trades.

The Japanese yen traded at 115 per dollar for the first time since March 2017. The direct currencies are all trading lower against the USD.

Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.31% to $79.45 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.48% to $76.27 per barrel.