Equities took a hit from the off after US....>

STOCKS: Equities took a hit from the off after US NEC Chair Gary Cohn's

resignation was announced and as the US was said to be mulling tariffs against

certain Chinese goods & takeovers.

- Japan's Nikkei 225 briefly moved into positive territory but last trades 0.6%

lower on the day. Machinery names suffered, while retailers out-performed.

- The Hang Seng moved lower, trading down 0.4% as consumer staples outperformed

& energy weighed.

- China's CSI 300 posted the most marginal of gains supported by the PBoC

injecting capital via its 1-Year MLF ops, although it refrained from injecting

capital via its reverse repo ops. Banks advanced following a rule change

surrounding NPLs.

- The ASX 200 underperformed, last -1.0%, energy names traded lower, mining

names pulled back alongside iron ore, while the big 4 banks also eased.

- US index futures never threatened a real recovery, with the mini S&P 500 29

points lower, while mini Dow futures lost 340 points.