MSCI’s all-country world equity index .miwd00000pus was last down 0.5 points, or 0.12 percent, at 417.92.
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The dollar was also supported against the yen as the Fed officials’ comments contrasted with those from their counterparts at the Bank of Japan, raising the prospect of a greater divergence in the nations’ monetary policies.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Fischer did not comment on the timing of the next Fed rate hike but said “we choose the pace on basis of data”, and that USA “employment is very close to full employment”.
Shares of Apple fell 0.5 percent to $106.32, after European Union antitrust regulators ordered the iPhone maker to pay $14.5 billion to the Irish government, ruling that a scheme to route profits through Ireland was illegal state aid.
“Taking all of this into account, markets have been wary for quite some time now of just how serious the Fed is to increase interest rates”.
Supporting the case for higher rates was a report that showed consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of USA economic activity, rose for the fourth straight month in July.
The advance in the USA stock markets was led by financials, which stand to gain the most in an environment of higher interest rates.
The euro edged down 0.1 percent to $1.1191. London was closed for a holiday. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.4 percent to 2,039.74.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six majors, rose to 95.85 earlier in European trade, its highest since August 12.
India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 0.29% or 81.43 points to 27,863.68.
Treasury yields fell a bit as he spoke. US shares were set for a quiet open, with Dow and S&P 500 futures both unchanged.
Seasonally adjusted dwelling consents slipped to 2,629 in July from 2,938 in June, when they jumped 22 percent, Statistics New Zealand said.
The yield on Italy’s 10-year BTP bond rose 1.5 basis points to 1.13 per cent before its planned sale of up to €7.75-billion of three bonds later. She described consumer spending as “solid” but noted that business investment was weak and exports hurt by a strong dollar, Reuters reported.
US crude futures dropped 1.7% to $46.84 while Brent crude also fell by a similar margin to $49.08.
Gold for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was last down $3.40 or 0.3 percent to $1,322.50 per ounce.
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“On Friday afternoon, gold initially reacted to the speech by Fed Chairwoman Yellen at Jackson Hole by surging above $1,340, but was unable to sustain this level, and ended trading in negative territory”, Commerzbank said.
