Yellen's comments on next US rate hike weigh on Asia bourses

Kuala Lumpur

ASIAN stocks outside Japan fell after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said the case for raising interest rates is getting stronger. Shares in Tokyo rallied as the yen weakened and the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) governor vowed to add stimulus if needed.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index dropped 0.9 per cent as at 4.10pm in Hong Kong, after its first back-to-back weekly decline since June. Indonesian equities led losses, while Japan's Topix index rose the most in three weeks. Ms Yellen said in Jackson Hole on Friday that the case for tightening policy had strengthened. While she stopped short of revealing the specific timing of a rate move, vice-chairman Stanley Fischer said that a rate increase in September is possible.