passersby wearing protective masks are reflected on an electronic board displaying stock prices outside a brokerage amid the coronavirus disease covid19 outbreak in tokyo japan september 29 2021 reutersissei kato hong kong sept 30 reuters  asian shares found some calm on thursday following this weeks heavy chinadriven losses although the dollar sat at a more than oneyear high against major peers upheld by lingering safehaven demand and expectations for tighter us monetary policy mscis broadest index of asiapacific shares outside japan miapj0000pus dropped 006 while the nikkei n225 lost 036 a day after japans ruling party chose softly spoken consensusbuilder fumio kishida as its new leader and the countrys new prime minister read more worries about economic growth in china due to a worsening power crunch combined with fears of a global slowdown hitting asian shares on wednesday read more however the dollar index  which measures the us currency against six major currencies  hit its strongest level in nearly 18 months against the yen and in 14 months against the euro it held these gains in asian hours and was last at 94314 the dollar is breaking key levels and there was no real resistance to the break so that tells you there was real underlying strength to that said chris weston head of research at melbourne brokerage pepperstone sometimes it can become somewhat of a magical currency he said pointing to the fact that it was supported by both global investors seeking safety and the fed inching closer to reducing its massive asset purchases in addition the ongoing us debt ceiling stand‑off could briefly amplify financial market jitters and support the usd in the shortterm said analysts at cba in a note us lawmakers continue to wrangle over funding the government but face a friday deadline to prevent a shutdown approached something that also capped gains in us equities overnight read more in asian equity markets hong kong stocks hsi fell 1 but these were largely balanced by a 11 rise in australia axjo chinese blue chips csi300 gained 05 after data published early on thursday showed chinas services sector returned to expansion in september after covid19 outbreaks receded however but factory activity unexpectedly shrank as high raw material prices and power cuts continued to pressure manufacturers read more it is likely that the power crunch in china will persist until end2021 as the local governments are under pressure to fulfil emission reduction goals for this year said chaoping zhu global market strategist jp morgan asset management in emailed comments investors might remain cautious on china’s corporate earnings in the fourth quarter meanwhile the volatile global market is expected to further weigh on investor sentiment in the near term the other main drag on investor sentiment in greater china was embattled developer china evergrande 3333hk whose shares swung back and forth and were last down 22 the company was due to pay interest on a dollar bond on wednesday but reuters reported that some offshore bondholders had not been paid interest by the end of the asian day read more overnight the dow jones industrial average dji and the sp 500 spx both posted small gains but the nasdaq composite ixic dropped 024 oil prices edged lower extending losses after official figures showed an unexpected rise in us inventories brent crude was down 014 to 7853 a barrel us crude dipped 003 to 7481 spot gold traded at 173199 per ounce near a sevenweek low constrained by a strong dollar