By Rae Wee
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares and global stock futures fell on Wednesday in the wake of a tech selloff, while the dollar and yen rose on safety bids and U.S. Treasury yields edged lower as investors fretted over the outlook for the world’s largest economy.
Oil prices struggled near their lowest level in months, on signs of a deal to resolve a dispute that has halted Libyan crude production and exports. [O/R]
Brent crude futures were last 0.05% lower at $73.71 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures dipped 0.13% to $70.25 per barrel, after both fell to their weakest since December in the previous session.
Wall Street closed sharply lower overnight after the U.S. returned from a holiday at the start of the week, with AI darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) tumbling nearly 10% as investors softened their optimism about artificial intelligence.
That set up for a negative lead in Asia, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan falling 0.44% in early trade, while U.S. stock futures extended their decline.
S&P 500 futures were off 0.1%. Nasdaq futures eased 0.15%.
Japan’s Nikkei slid more than 3%.
September has historically being a bad month for stocks, though analysts pointed to a confluence of factors, including tepid U.S. manufacturing data, behind the latest market rout.
“September got off to a lively start and the air of portfolio de-risking as the U.S. cranked back up after the Labor Day holiday was seen across all areas within the capital markets,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.
“Growth concerns were the key theme on the day, with cyclical-sensitive assets smacked and hedges laid down aggressively.”
A slew of U.S. economic data is due throughout the week, including figures on job openings, jobless claims and the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report out on Friday.
Given the Federal Reserve’s focus on the health of the U.S. labour market, Friday’s release could decide whether a rate cut expected this month will be regular or super-sized.
Safe-haven currencies like the dollar and the yen meanwhile rose on safety bids, with the Japanese currency last a touch higher at 145.36 per dollar.
The euro retreated further from a 13-month high and was little changed at $1.1048, while sterling fell 0.04% to $1.311.
Elsewhere, spot gold rose 0.05% to $2,494.23 an ounce. [GOL/]
