Global market: Asian shares fall, US stocks down amid worries over US debt ceiling deal
2 min read 24 May 2023, 07:04 AM ISTUS House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said, We’re not there yet on a deal to prevent the US government from running out of cash.
PremiumAsian shares opened on a weaker note Wednesday following overnight decline in the US markets as investors remained cautious over the ongoing US debt ceiling discussions that seem to have very little progress so far.
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said, “We’re not there yet" on a deal to prevent the US government from running out of cash.
Investors will keep an eye on the minutes of the meeting of Federal’s Reserve on May 2-3 that are due to be released on Wednesday
US Stocks
US stock market ended lower Tuesday amid growing worries over raising the debt limit after another round of talks between White House officials and Congressional Republicans ended without a conclusion.
All three major indices in the US fell overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.69% lower at 33,055.51, while the S&P 500 lost 1.12% to close at 4,145.58. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped the most by 1.26% to 12,560.25.
Asian markets
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.46% and the Topix fell 0.35% in early trade. South Korea’s Kospi eased 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunged 1.25%.
In China, Shanghai Composite index traded 1.52% lower.
Europe
European shares declined on Tuesday, dragged by losses in luxury majors. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.6% lower.
The STOXX Europe Luxury 10 crashed 4.3%, registering its steepest single-day fall since mid-December. LVMH fell 5%, Peers Hermes and Kering dropped 6.5% and 3.0%, respectively.
Britain’s FTSE 100 eased 0.1% to 7,762.95, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.4% to 16,152.86 and France CAC 40 lost 1.3% to 7,378.71.
Bullion
Gold prices were trading flat amid investors’ cautiousness around US debt ceiling talks and the possibility of further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. A firm dollar index kept a lid on the gold prices.
Spot gold held steady at $1,975.99 per ounce, while US gold futures edged 0.1% higher to $1,977.10.
Energy
Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday amid worries of tightening supplies as US oil and fuel inventories fell sharply, while a warning from the Saudi energy minister to speculators also raised the prospect of further OPEC output cuts.
Brent crude futures rose 1.1% to $77.70 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) gained 1.2% to $73.79 a barrel.
Data showed US crude oil and fuel inventories declined by about 6.8 million barrels in the week ended May 19. Gasoline inventories dropped by about 6.4 million, while distillate inventories fell by about 1.8 million.
Currencies
Major currencies were steady in early Asian trading hours as the US dollar index held firm. The euro was little changed at $1.0773, while the Japanese yen was higher at 138.58 per dollar.
The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0636 per dollar and the Australian dollar was little at $0.6612.
