· Asian Stock Market: Ignores upbeat China PMIs as US presidential debate disappoints
Asian equities trade mostly downside as the US presidential debate failed to meet market forecasts. Even if Democratic candidate Joe Biden is leading the race to be the next American President over the current occupier Trump, comments from the Republican leader suggest a delay in the election results and uncertainty going forward.
It’s worth mentioning that the US Republicans’ counteroffer to the Democratic proposal of a $2.2 trillion stimulus package and escalation of the stopgap funding bill also gained a little attention. Furthermore, news that the UK’s House of Commons passed the Internal Market Bill (IMB), adding worries for the Brexit talks, couldn’t as well lure the momentum traders.
Considering China’s golden week holidays, starting from Thursday, the Asian session is less likely to be entertaining unless scheduled data Pacific majors perform magic.
U.S. equity futures fell and safer assets like the yen and dollar found buyers on Wednesday after a chaotic first U.S. presidential debate turned investors cautious, though strong factory surveys gave a boost to Chinese shares.
Dow futures fall nearly 300 points after U.S. presidential debate
U.S. stock futures ground higher in Asian time during the debate but then retreated after Trump cast doubt on whether he would accept the election’s outcome.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 275 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were also both in negative territory.
Futures rose slightly during the debate, but quickly gave up that ground as the debate ended. It wasn’t clear whether the gyrations were related to the contentious comments being traded back and forth by the candidates. Traders are hoping that the start of the debate process will lead to a clear winner on Election Day and not a drawn-out electoral process that could hit the market.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2%, led by a 1.2% gain in Hong Kong.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell nearly 2%.
The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 1.5% to 23,185.12, pulling back from a seven-month high reached in the previous session. The broader Topix ended down 1.97% at 1,625.49.
· China shares end lower, record worst monthly loss in over 1 year
China shares closed lower on Wednesday as losses in real estate and materials stocks outweighed optimism from upbeat factory activity surveys, with the markets recording their worst monthly loss since May 2019.
*The Shanghai Composite index ended down 0.2% at 3,218.05 and the blue-chip CSI300 index 0.1%. For the month, the Shanghai Composite index lost 5.23% and the CSI300 index 4.75%.
Markets fell in September mainly due to worries over ongoing Sino-U.S. tensions and fluctuations in overseas markets on concerns about a second wave of coronavirus outbreak.
· European markets choppy as U.S. president debate weighs on sentiment
European stocks bounced either side of the flatline Wednesday morning as investors react to the U.S. presidential debate, and gauge the investment landscape amid the coronavirus crisis.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.1% higher in early trade, with oil and gas stocks adding 1.1% while the travel and leisure sector dropped 0.8%.
The first U.S. presidential debate between incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden could be weighing on investor sentiment worldwide, with the two constantly exchanging sharp remarks in a face-to-face challenge.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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