HONG KONG—Asian stock markets and the U.S. dollar struggled for traction on Friday after a rush of central bank meetings underlined the growing threat posed by a spike in global inflation, while fears about the Omicron variant of COVID-19 added to a cautious mood.
The dollar index was trading at 95.999, off nearly 1 percent since Wednesday’s high immediately after the Federal Reserve announced it would accelerate tapering of its emergency bond buying program and prepare to raise rates more quickly next year.
