By Alun John

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – Asian shares rose in choppy trade on Thursday due to gains in Chinese realty shares. However, regional fears over the Omicron coronavirus capped gains.

Jerome Powell, Fed Chair, made remarks that were also weighing on the share market. He stated again with his fellow policymakers that they will be considering a quicker winding down of the Fed’s bond buying programme. This move is widely seen to open the doors to higher interest rates.

This supported the dollar, which, despite its cautious mood, gained ground against the yen. The yen is typically considered an even safer haven that the greenback.

The MSCI Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan was 0.2% higher thanks to an increase in blue chip shares from China and Hong Kong of 0.2%.

The index of Hong Kong’s mainland developers rose 2.2% on Wednesday after the announcement that Chinese developers intend to sell bonds to China in order to raise 18 billion Yuan ($2.83 Billion). This indicates Beijing is easing some liquidity constraints within this cash-strapped industry.

However, the Dow lost 0.6% while the Wall Street benchmarks all fell over 1% overnight after a worldwide rally collapsed as negative news on the Omicron version of the coronavirus. [.N]

Omicron has been rapidly establishing itself as the predominant variant of coronavirus South Africa’s in less than 4 weeks. On Wednesday, the United States was the first country to find an Omicron case within their borders.

“All anybody can do is wait for each headline to break, because there are a lot of questions about the new variant which remain largely unanswered. These will stay unanswered until the next few days,” Kyle Rodda from Melbourne brokerage IG Markets said.

He said that the Federal Reserve had reduced its stimulus, and was building up towards raising rates. “This is the first time since a very long time when the markets haven’t used a negative development to purchase stocks in anticipation of an increase in liquidity by the Fed.”

Long-dated U.S. Treasury yields fell late at night in the United States, another indication of safety flight. As low as 1.740% for 30-year bonds, which is their lowest level since January 1, and as low at 1.404% for benchmark 10-year bonds, which was a nine-week high, respectively. [US/]

On the chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve will accelerate its bond purchasing tapering, yields at this end were more stable

Powell testified to Congress on Wednesday. He said that the Fed must be prepared to react to inflation if it does not decline in the second quarter of next year, as many forecasters believe.

It would probably lead to an increase in the rate at which the Fed reduces its asset purchasing programme.

CBA analysts stated in a morning note that “we now expect (the Fed’s Policy Committee) to complete asset purchases in April 2022” and then begin increasing the Funds rate by June 2022.

Although the trend was stable, the greenback rose by around 0.2% to 113yen, regaining some of its losses due to the hawkish tone.

The Australian dollar is extremely risk sensitive and sank to $0.7114, not far from Tuesday’s low of $0.7063. It was at its weakest point since late November last year.

However, oil prices have also recovered after an earlier strong sell-off fueled by fears about the impact of this variant on travel.

Futures rose 0.9% to $69.48 per barrel and futures gained 0.76% up to $66.08 per barrel. However, they are still within reach of Tuesday’s three-month low.

The price of an ounce dropped 0.12% to $1780