Asian markets fall as Yellen points to rate rise

Dollar reaches yearly high

Stockmarkets across Asia were down yesterday after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen further laid the ground for the country's first interest rate rise since 2006.

In a speech at the Economic Club in Washington yesterday, Yellen (pictured) said the US economy has "recovered substantially" since the financial crisis, and that her confidence in the inflation outlook has been "bolstered" by recent strength in the jobs market. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed down 0.4% to around 22,389 at close on Thursday, while Australia's ASX All Ords was down 0.5% to around 5,276.  According to Bloomberg, the speech led the US dollar index to reach a new high for the year, rising 0.7% to 100.51, beating its previous high of 100.39 in March, its highest level s...