Equities generally struggled in Asian......>

EQUITIES: Equities generally struggled in Asian hours the wake of the Bolton

"revelations" made late Wednesday, while continued North Korean sabre

rattling/reported movement into the DMZ and Sino-U.S. tension surrounding the

Uighur Muslims in China's Xinjiang province all weighed on the broader risk

backdrop. A seemingly semi-cordial meeting between U.S. Secretary of State

Pompeo and the top Chinese diplomat Yang appeared to yield little in the way of

concrete advances, although an apparent willingness to work together allowed

broader equity markets to recover from lows, after a slight moderation in the

Chinese/Beijing COVID-19 case counts did little to support risk.

- Chinese banks felt pressure in the wake of a BBG report released after hours

on Wednesday, which suggested that "China's financial regulators are asking

banks to keep profit growth below 10% this year as they direct the nation's

lenders to support an economy facing its worst slump in four decades."

- Nikkei 225 -0.3%, Hang Seng -0.3%, CSI 300 +0.5%, ASX 200 -0.7%.

- S&P 500 futures -23, DJIA futures -227, NASDAQ 100 futures -55.