Asian stocks slipped and the dollar advanced on Thursday after hawkish-sounding comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen further reinforced the case for an interest rate hike later this month. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent, taking an early lead from Wall Street. The Dow (.DJI) shed 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 1.1 percent overnight on Yellen’s comments and falling crude prices that hit energy shares.