Futures pointed to a lower open for Asia markets on Wednesday as markets digested the release of a series of emails from the son of President Donald Trump.
Futures pointed to a lower open for Asian equities on Wednesday as markets stateside digested the release of a series of emails from the son of President Donald Trump.
Trump Jr. released the email chain on Tuesday so that he could be “totally transparent” about events that transpired during a meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June last year. Veselnitskaya had said she had information that could prove “helpful” to the Trump presidential campaign.
Central bank speak was also in the spotlight after Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard’s speech on Tuesday about the central bank’s policy moves. While Brainard said the Fed was likely to move “soon” to unwind its massive portfolio, her comments on future interest rate hikes were perceived as dovish by the markets.
Meanwhile, a speech from Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent that skirted the issue of future rate hikes resulted in the British pound sinking against the euro overnight. Against the euro, the pound traded at $1.1203 at 6: 48 a.m. HK/SIN, after trading as low as $1.1196 earlier in the session. Pound/euro had traded around the $1.13 handle earlier in the week.
In Asia, Nikkei futures traded in Chicago edged down 0.18 percent to 20,160 and Osaka futures were off 0.42 percent at 20,110 at 6: 20 a.m. HK/SIN. Both were lower than the Nikkei 225’s Tuesday close of 20,195.48.
Futures tipped the S&P/ASX 200 to open lower. SPI futures were down 1.03 percent at 5,670 compared to the benchmark index’s last close of 5,728.926.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed after dipping on the release of Trump Jr.’s emails. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.55 points to close mostly flat at 21,409.07, the S&P 500 slid 0.08 percent, or 1.9 points, to end at 2,425.53 and the Nasdaq rose 0.27 percent, or 16.91 points, to finish the session at 6,193.31.
In currencies, the dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies, traded at 65.669 at 6: 53 a.m. HK/SIN. The dollar had gained in Asian trade on Tuesday before ceding ground following Trump Jr.’s email release during U. S. trading hours.
The dollar was also a bit softer against the yen after trading at a four-month high earlier in the session. The greenback fetched 113.89 yen at 6: 54 a.m. HK/SIN.
On the economic calendar for Wednesday, Japan PPI for the month of June was expected at 7: 50 a.m. HK/SIN.
Investors also anticipated the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision due during U. S. hours. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony before congress was also awaited.
