Asia-Pacific markets were set to open lower Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s declines on concerns about U.S.-China trade relations.
Trade fears resurfaced after Reuters reported Wednesday stateside that the Trump administration is considering curbs on exports to China that are made with U.S. software, citing a U.S. official and three people briefed by U.S. authorities.
The sources said that the plan, which could cover a wide range of items from laptops to jet engines, might not move forward, however, and that it’s not the only option that’s being discussed.
Investors in Asia will also look to the Bank of Korea’s policy rate decision later in the day. The country’s central bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5% according to economists polled by Reuters, as policymakers continue to flag household debt as a key risk.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was set for a lower open, with its futures contract in Chicago trading at 48,910, and its counterpart in Osaka at 48,830, against the index’s Wednesday close of 49,307.79.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 fell 0.33%.
Futures of Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index pointed to a lower open, trading at 25,647, against the index’s previous close of 25,781.77.
U.S. equity futures edged lower in early Asia hours after the three key benchmarks in the U.S. fell Wednesday stateside. Disappointing corporate earnings from companies including Texas Instruments and Netflix also weighed on the major averages.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 334.33 points, or 0.71%, at 46,590.41. The S&P 500 fell 0.53% to finish at 6,699.40, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.93% to settle at 22,740.40.
At session lows, the Dow was down more than 400 points, or about 1%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq decreased 1.2% and 1.9%, respectively.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
