Asian equities pulled backed on Wednesday as an impasse in U.S. economic stimulus negotiations pushed global stocks lower and sent investors into safe-haven assets like gold, which hovered near record highs.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he did not support everything in a $1 trillion Senate Republican coronavirus relief proposal the day after it was unveiled by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, although he indicated talks were continuing.

“We've had some negative leads particularly from U.S. and European stock markets,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, pointing to the overnight decline of Asia-Pacific futures as an indicator of the market opening.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were down 0.14%. Australian S&P/ASX 200 was flat while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures dipped 0.5%.

U.S. data released on Tuesday showed consumer confidence ebbed in July as coronavirus infections flared across the country.

The data, along with stimulus concerns, weighed down Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.77%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.65%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.27%.

“The only positive news is for those holding quantities of gold and those in New Zealand, where job numbers rose in June,” wrote Tapas Strickland, an economist at NAB in a research note on Wednesday.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW