HONG KONG, Dec 14 — Asian stocks looked set to track Friday’s retreat in US and European equities, with concern over oil’s rout and ructions in the junk-bond market boosting anxiety levels just days out from the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of 2015.

Shares in New Zealand fell the most in 10 weeks, while futures on indexes from Tokyo to Sydney foreshadowed losses of at least 1 per cent following Friday’s selloff, the worst day for global equities since September 28.

The South African rand surged the most in seven years after President Jacob Zuma backtracked on his appointment of a relatively unknown lawmaker as finance minister, reinstating a former fiscal chief to the job. Australia’s dollar dialed back some of Friday’s losses after data at the weekend indicated China’s economy may be stabilizing.

A wave of risk aversion swept over markets Friday as OPEC’s decision to scrap output limits continued to dog oil, sending prices to the lowest level since 2008 in London.

Asset managers slid in the US after the uneasy calm that had settled over markets in the countdown to the Fed’s interest-rate review was rocked after a high-yield mutual fund run by Third Avenue Management suspended redemptions.

They were then joined by Stone Lion Capital Partners, fueling concern over stress in the high- risk debt market.

The Chinese data may limit losses, after retail sales to factory output come in better than expected.

“Risk appetite evaporated in Friday night trading,” Jason Wong, a currency strategist in Wellington at Bank of New Zealand Ltd., said in an e-mail to clients.

“The current angst in the high-yield space echoes early developments during the global financial crisis.

“We will be watching developments closely in global credit markets to how much further they deteriorate.”

Stone Lion, a New York-based hedge fund with US$1.3 billion (RM 5.638 billion) under management, said Friday it was suspending redemptions in its US$400 million high-yield fund as more investors demanded their money.

The move came after Third Avenue said it was liquidating a US$788 million credit mutual fund and delaying payouts to investors so it can avoid selling securities at fire- sale prices. The SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond exchange traded fund, regarded as a proxy for the junk-bond market, sank the most since 2011 on Friday.

The credit-market turmoil comes on the cusp of one of the most anticipated weeks of the year for investors, with traders pricing in 74 per cent odds the Fed will end the era of near-zero borrowing costs Wednesday and hike rates. Tightening policy would solidify the Fed’s divergence from other major central banks, with policy makers in Europe and Japan still emphasizing measures to support growth.

The Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey is due Monday, along with data on Japanese and euro-area industrial production. India reports on wholesale and consumer prices.

Stocks

The S&P/NZX 50 Index, the first major stock gauge to start trading each day in the Asian region, slipped 0.8 per cent as of 7:35 a.m. Tokyo time.

Futures on Australia’s benchmark were down 1.5 per cent in most recent trading, while those on the Kospi index in Seoul dropped 1 per cent. Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures slid 2.9 per cent in Osaka early Saturday, to 18,650, with contracts denominated in yen traded in Chicago falling 1.9 per cent to 18,680 last session.

In Hong Kong, futures on the Hang Seng and Hang Seng China Enterprises gauges lost at least 1.1 per cent, while those on the FTSE China A50 Index were down 1.7 per cent in recent trade.

The biggest US ETF tracking Chinese stocks fell 1.8 per cent Friday to its lowest level since October 21 as energy shares drove the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down 1.9 per cent.

The US benchmark slid 3.8 per cent last week, its worst weekly performance since August. — Bloomberg