Tokyo — Asian shares withered on Tuesday and the yen firmed against the backdrop of rising tension on the Korean peninsula, and as investors awaited fresh signals about the US monetary policy outlook. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3%, following tech-focused losses on Wall Street. Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak later on Tuesday (4.45pm GMT) on Prospects for Growth: Reassessing the Fundamentals. Investors will be parsing her words for clues on whether the US central bank will stick to its plan to raise interest rates in December. "If the US is going to increase its policy rate as soon as December, that is going to support the dollar, but the situation is complicated by the North Korean tensions," said Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at IHS Markit in Tokyo. "Even if Yellen says something positive for the markets, it might just be offset by the geopolitical risks," she said. North Korea’s foreign minister said on...
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