Wednesday's risk-off tone spilled into.....>

EQUITIES: Wednesday's risk-off tone spilled into Asia-Pac hours, with the major

regional equity indices under pressure, while e-minis edged lower. Worth

remembering that holidays in Hong Kong, China & Taiwan thinned liquidity out

(with the two latter centres also closed on Friday). In terms of technicals

bears will want to force the S&P 500 contract back below its 200-DMA.

- Key points of tension on Wednesday included continued/heightened COVID-19

worry in the U.S., perhaps best punctuated by Houston grinding towards its ICU

capacity, as well as New York, New Jersey & Connecticut outlining a quarantine

for travellers out of virus hotspot states, U.S/EU trade matters (stemming from

long running disputes surrounding Airbus) and Sino-U.S. sabre rattling.

Month-/quarter-end rebalancing & a pullback in oil markets may have added

further pressure. Wednesday also saw Goldman Sachs CEO Solomon note that "the

equity market does seem to be a little bit ahead of my view of the future

earnings performance of businesses, as we look six to 12 months out."

- Nikkei 225 -1.3%, Hang Seng closed, CSI 300 closed, ASX 200 1.7%.

- S&P 500 futures -17, DJIA futures -165, NASDAQ 100 futures -34.