Asian shares dropped; pound rise on Brexit delay hopes

Asian shares lost steam on Tuesday after scaling a five-month high as investors waited to see if Washington and Beijing can clinch a trade deal. In other news, the pound advanced on hopes UK Prime Minister Theresa May will delay a Brexit deadline.

Asian Shares

  • MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan  fell 0.5 percent.
  • Chinese blue chips jumped 3.5 percent to territory last trod in mid-June.
  • Seoul’s Kospi lost 0.3 percent.
  • Shares in Taiwan were also 0.3 percent lower.
  • Japan’s Nikkei stumbled 0.4 percent.
  •  E-Minis for the S&P 500 falling 0.4 percent.

Currency Market

In currencies, the trade news had already been largely priced in.

  • The greenback was last at 110.77.
  • The euro was flat at $1.1340.
  • The dollar index was mostly flat at 96.399.
  • Sterling jumped to $1.3149.

“The market will be looking for signs the Fed remains comfortable with the current state of policy,” said Steven Dooley, currency strategist at Western Union Business Solutions. “The markets will also want to hear details about the eventual end of the Fed’s balance sheet reduction program.”

Commodities

Oil prices dropped again after their huge daily percentage drop this year.

  • Spot gold edged up a touch to $1,331.00 per ounce.
  • U.S. crude was last down 32 cents at $55.16 a barrel.
  • Brent crude eased 20 cents to $64.56.

 

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