· European stocks open in the red at the start of Wednesday's session, as investors digest the latest political and economic news from around the world.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.37 percent with almost every sector in negative territory.
Stocks in Asia posted slight gains ahead of the market open in Europe, as investors pay close attention to an upcoming meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are due to meet in the Vietnam capital of Hanoi on Wednesday, with the summit looking to work on relations between the two nations, along with the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Ahead of the two leaders meeting, Trump tweeted that North Korea could be as "thriving" as Vietnam if it was denuclearized, adding that the potential is "awesome."
· Asian shares and Wall Street stock futures turned negative on Wednesday after Pakistan said it had shot down two Indian jets in its territory, sending investors out of riskier markets and into more conservative choices such as the yen.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan turned negative and was last down nearly 0.2 percent, after trading in positive territory most of the day.
U.S. stock futures for the S&P 500 were last down 0.2 percent. Trading in the contracts had been delayed for several hours following a technical disruption earlier in the session.
Investors are keeping an eye on the U.S.-North Korean summit, which begins in Hanoi later on Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were due to meet for their second summit, betting that their personal relationship can break a stalemate over the North’s nuclear weapons and end more than 70 years of
· Japan’s Nikkei closed up on Wednesday as investors bought into defensive stocks such as pharmaceutical and real estate firms, and took some money off the table from machinery shares that had rallied on progress in U.S.-China trade talks.
The Nikkei share average gained 0.5 percent to 21,556.51, not far from its more than 10-week high reached during Tuesday’s session.
“Shares that had been pressured on worries about U.S.-China trade disputes were bought back early this week, so there seems to be profit-taking going on,” said Takashi Ito, an equity market strategist at Nomura Securities.
· Shanghai stocks ended up on Wednesday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reinforced the U.S. central bank’s recent shift towards a more “patient” approach on policy in the face of a slowing economy.
The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.2 percent, to 3,678.39, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 2,953.82 points.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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