SINGAPORE CITY (SINGAPORE) – After brushing off a Wall Street tumble and a slump in commodity prices, Asian stock markets hit a two-week high on Wednesday. The dip in prices follows US President Donald Trump’s abrupt cancellation of discussions with lawmakers on stimulus package.
He suspended talks with Democrats in a Tweet, saying the discussions will stop until after the election.
This caused the US stocks to register their steepest decline in two weeks, pushing oil sharply lower and buoyed safe assets like the dollar and bonds.
On the other hand, Asian investors do not seem rattled and they believe that whoever comes to power will have to tackle an economy craving a stimulus.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% and European futures were slightly negative, with Euro STOXX 50 futures down 0.4% and FTSE futures dipping 0.2%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.4% marking a two-year peak. It was led by a 1.3% gain in Australia thanks to an expansionary budget.
“One way or another we’re going to get some stimulus, it’s just we’re not going to get it now,” said ING’s chief economist in Asia, Rob Carnell. “So we’ll tread water for a bit.”
