Asia Generally Lower, E-Minis Marginally Higher

The major regional equity indices were generally lower in Asia-Pac trade, after Wall St. provided a slightly negative lead.

• Chinese tech names struggled in the wake of soft quarterly earnings reports from Baidu & Bilibili, with those companies subjected to the burden of the well-documented policymaker crackdown in China. The inflationary spectre provided a further source of pressure for the space, while the fall in oil prices evident over the last 24 hours also weighed. The Hang Seng shed over 1% as a result.
• The Nikkei 225 pared its early losses on the back of a Nikkei report which noted that the heavily awaited Japanese fiscal support package will total Y55.7tn. That level of spending is above any expectations that we had seen in circulation and is much higher than the previously touted ~Y40tn.
• The ASX was the exception to the broader rule, adding 0.1% on the day.
• U.S. e-mini futures sit marginally above settlement levels, aided by the previously outlined story re: Japanese fiscal spending.