Markets in Asia look set to open lower, on news that special counsel would be appointed to the Russia probe in the U. S.
Asian equities look set to open lower and U. S. futures slipped following political turmoil on news that a special counsel was appointed to take over the investigation into Russia’s involvement in the U. S. presidential election last year.
Japanese futures pointed to a lower open for the Nikkei 225 today. Nikkei futures in Chicago tumbled 1.64 percent to trade at 19,490 while Osaka futures fell 1.69 percent to trade at 19,480. Both were below the Nikkei 225’s close of 19,814.88 on Wednesday.
Australian SPI futures were down 1.14 percent at 5,720 compared to the S&P/ASX 200 ‘s close of 5,786.028 yesterday.
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed by the Justice Department as a special counsel to take over the probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, including its role in the hacking of Hillary Clinton’s emails, NBC News reported.
That followed a report from The New York Times on Tuesday, which was later confirmed by NBC News, that former FBI Director James Comey put together a memo outlining a conversation in which President Donald Trump allegedly asked him to halt an investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser.
« Market participants figure that there is virtually no chance of any U. S. company tax cuts getting through the Congress while President Trump is defending the allegations of an obstruction of justice – an impeachable offence, » Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a note on Thursday.
After the special counsel’s appointment, U. S. futures were mostly flat, with Dow futures edging down by 0.06 percent, or 13 points, and S&P futures lower by 0.04 percent, or 1 point.
In the currency markets, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, traded around its lowest since November.
The dollar index was at 97.438 at 7: 13 a.m. HK/SIN, off levels over 98 on Wednesday and down from levels over 99 last week.
The safe-haven yen surged, with the dollar fetching just 110.99 yen at 7: 16 a.m. HK/SIN, down from levels over 113 yen earlier in the week. First quarter GDP figures are due from Japan with an 0.4 percent increase seen on quarter and ahead Australia reports April jobs data with the unemployment rate seen steady at 5.9 percent.
Stocks in the U. S. finished lower following the latest headlines from Washington, with major indexes recording their worst sessions since last September. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.78 percent or 372.82 points to finish at 20,606.93, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.82 percent or 43.64 points to close at 2,357.03 and the Nasdaq dropped 2.57 percent or 158.63 to close finish at 6,011.24.
