Asian stocks under pressure, gold recovers from US stimulus impasse By Reuters

By Suzanne Barlyn

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Asian stocks fell back on Wednesday due to a stalemate in U.S. economic stimulus negotiations that pushed global stocks lower and sent investors to safe assets such as gold, which hovered near all-time highs.

United States President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he did not endorse everything in a trillion dollar Republican Senate coronavirus relief proposal the day after it was presented by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, although he indicated that the conversations continued.

“We have had some negative leads, particularly from the US and European stock markets,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, pointing to the overnight decline in Asia-Pacific futures as an indicator of market opening.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures () <.hsic1> they fell 0.14%. The Australian S & P / ASX 200 () remained flat while {{178 | Japan’s Ni () fell 0.5%.

Data from the United States released Tuesday showed that consumer confidence declined in July as coronavirus infections erupted across the country.

The data, along with stimulus concerns, weighed on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average () fell 0.77%, the S&P 500 () fell 0.65%, and the Nasdaq Composite () lost 1 , 27%.

“The only positive news is for those with gold quantities and those in New Zealand, where the number of jobs increased in June,” wrote Tapas Strickland, an NAB economist in a research note on Wednesday.

Worsening coronavirus outbreaks in Florida and Texas added to the warning. Florida reported 191 deaths in a 24-hour period ending Tuesday, marking a record one-day rise for the third-most populous state in the United States and the most precious destination for beach lovers and retirees.

Texas, the second most populous state, added more than 6,000 new cases on Monday, bringing its total to 401,477, according to a Reuters count.

Rising deaths and infections in the United States have lowered initial hopes that the country has overcome the worst of an economic crisis that has decimated businesses and left millions of Americans out of work.

Gold rose more than $ 125 an ounce in just over a week, as investors bet the Federal Reserve would reaffirm its super-accommodative policies at its two-day meeting that will end on Wednesday and perhaps signal a tolerance for higher long-term inflation. Bullion withdrew from a record high previously reached.

Gold rose to a record high of $ 1,980.57 per ounce earlier, but prices fell as much as 3.7% later in the session as investors posted gains and the dollar rebounded.

The front against a basket of coins () gained 0.18% to 93.71, after falling to 93.47 on Monday, the lowest since June 2018.

“I think the market is pausing, it has been a pretty unforgiving dollar settlement,” said Vassili Serebriakov, currency strategist at UBS in New York.

In commodity markets, oil prices fell as US lawmakers prepared to discuss the stimulus package and investors worried about an increase in coronavirus cases worldwide.

Brent crude () fell 0.32% to $ 43.27 per barrel, while US crude () remained unchanged at $ 41.04 per barrel.