Equities in Asia look set to open mixed amidst a spike in the euro and political developments in the U. S. involving President Donald Trump.
Equities in Asia look set to open mixed amid a spike in the euro overnight and more developments in U. S. President Donald Trump’s sharing of confidential information with Russian officials.
The euro rose to a six-month high as political event risk receded from the continent. The common currency last traded against the dollar at $1.1090.
Meanwhile, Trump defended his actions, saying that he had «the absolute right to do» so on Twitter. The President’s tweets came after his national security adviser told the media that the incident reported by the Washington Post did not take place.
Nikkei futures in Chicago pointed down, declining 0.48 percent to trade at 19,825, while Osaka futures sank 0.45 percent to trade at 19,830. This compared to the Nikkei 225’s close of 19,919.82 on Tuesday.
Australian SPI futures rose 0.08 percent to trade at 5,855 against the ASX 200’s close of 5,850.518 yesterday.
Chinese tech stocks are also likely to be in the spotlight, with the Hong Kong-listed Tencent expected to report earnings today. Nasdaq-listed Weibo and Sina released their earnings for the first quarter in the U. S. on Tuesday. Sina rose sharply after earnings per share came in at $0.50 per share, well above FactSet estimates of $0.17.
Markets were mixed on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 closing mostly flat. The Nasdaq, however, rose 0.33 percent or 20.20 points to finish at 6,169.87.
In currency news, the dollar continued to sag. The greenback traded at 98.188 against a basket of rival currencies, off levels around the 99 handle seen last week.
The dollar also ceded ground against the yen, with dollar/yen trading at a one-week low of 112.90. The Aussie strengthened against the dollar for a sixth straight session to trade at $0.7428.
Economic data expected in the day include Japan machinery orders at 7: 50 am HK/SIN. Over in Australia, the Westpac consumer confidence index for May will be released at 8: 30 am while the Q1 wage price index is out at 9: 30 am. Singapore reports April non-oil domestic exports (NODX) figures at 8: 30 a.m.
