Asia shares ease, bonds rally on sober Fed

Asian shares eased on Thursday, while bonds soared after speculations that the U.S. Federal reserve will add stimulus measures to shore up the economy.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.1%, while Chinese blue chips slipped 0.4%.

S&P 500 dropped 0.53%, while its e-mini futures lost 0.4%. The Dow was down 1.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.67%.

The Fed forecasted that the U.S. economy will contract by 6.5% for the year, while unemployment would remain at 9.3% at year’s end.

Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed that the Fed was considering yield curve control and emphasized that economic recovery would be a long road.

10-year Treasuries fell 9 basis points on Wednesday, its sharpest fall in two months. It fell 0.72% on Thursday.