Asian stocks were poised for a mixed open on Wednesday, with major regional markets set to stem the sharp losses made in the previous session that were caused by elevated fears of a trade war between the U.S. and China.
Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were lower by 0.08 percent compared to the index’s last close. Australian SPI futures, meanwhile, rose 0.59 percent by the end of Tuesday.
U.S. stocks finished the day lower, but those declines were more measured than the sharp falls seen during the Asian session on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.15 percent, or 287.26 points, to close at 24,700.21, erasing all its gains made this year. Other U.S. stock indexes recorded smaller declines: The S&P 500 edged down by 0.4 percent to 2,762.59 and the Nasdaq composite eased 0.28 percent to close at 7,725.59.
In Asia, losses in the previous session had been led by China’s markets, with the Shanghai composite tumbling 3.82 percent and closing below the key 3,000 mark. The Shenzhen composite fell 5.77 percent.
The declines had been triggered by investor fears of a trade war after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had asked the U.S. Trade Representative to identify $200 billion in Chinese goods that could be subject to additional tariffs.
China said in response that it would take counter measures against the U.S. if the latter went ahead with issuing the list of extra tariffs. “The United States has initiated a trade war that violates market laws and is not in accordance with current global development trends,” the country’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
Concerns over the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies also saw investors turn to safe haven assets. U.S. Treasury prices rose in the previous session, with the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note last standing at 2.897 percent from above 2.9 percent on Monday. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
In currencies, the safe-haven yen strengthened to 110.02 to the dollar by 6:50 a.m. HK/SIN after trading at the 109 handle during the Asian session on Tuesday.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, firmed to 95.085.
Here’s the economic calendar for Wednesday (all times in HK/SIN):
- 7:50 a.m.: Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting minutes
- 12:00 p.m. Malaysia May inflation
- 3:30 p.m.: Bank of Thailand interest rate decision
