ASIA STOCKS: Asian Equities Head Lower, Yen Hits New Highs, US CPI Later

Asian markets traded lower today, focus in the region today was on the Trump vs Harris debate betting markets have Harris winning with PredictIt showing a 5pt bounce in favor of Harris. There was little reaction from the equity markets during the debate, there has been some weakness post with crypto and tech slightly lower. Japanese & Hong Kong equities are the worst performing amid concerns over global growth and the upcoming U.S. inflation report, while the yen continues to strengthen hurting Japanese exporters. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4%, with key drags coming from Samsung Electronics, Toyota, and CBA. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.2% despite a slight improvement in unemployment, and Australian shares also slipped, while Taiwan stocks are little changed as TSMC holds up well amid weakness in the sector.

• US Equity futures are making fresh session lows, led by the Nasdaq 100 which is down 0.70% while S&P 500 eminis are 0.50% lower.
• Hong Kong equities are the worst in the region today with Banking stocks the worst following overnight weakness in the sector, The HS Mainland Banking Index is -2.13%, while property indices continue to hit new all time lows with the Mainland Property Index down 1.75%.
• In line with weaker tech prices, foreign investors continue to sell South Korean equities with $606m of outflows so far today, with $426m of that coming from local tech stocks.
• Asian EM markets are mixed today, with Thailand SET 1.10% although flows into the region over the past week have been very strong.