Risk negative headline flow surrounding......>

STOCKS: Risk negative headline flow surrounding Sino-U.S. trade & U.S.

legislative matters re: Hong Kong weighed on equities from the off in Asia,

although they managed to recover from worst levels on news that Chinese Vice

Premier Liu He was confused but confident re: signing a phase 1 trade deal with

the U.S. N.B. these comments came before source reports suggested that U.S.

President Trump would sign the HK bill that passed through the House yesterday,

as they were made on Wednesday.

- The Hang Seng underperformed on the aforementioned U.S. legislative matters.

- Japanese equities struggled on the back of the negative lead from Wall St. &

stronger JPY.

- The tech sector generally struggled on the fresh round of angst re: trade war

matters apparent over the last 36 or so hours, even as Liu He tried to quell

worry.

- Nikkei 225 -0.9%, Hang Seng -1.6%, CSI 300 -0.6%, ASX 200 -0.7%.

- S&P 500 futures -6, DJIA futures -47, NASDAQ 100 futures -23.