*Asia markets set to trade lower amid dampened expectations for US-China negotiations*
_*KEY POINTS*_
- _Asia stocks were set to trade lower on Thursday amid dampened expectations for a trade deal between the U.S. and China._
- _Investors will watch for market reaction to a South China Morning Post report that said the U.S. and China made no progress in deputy level trade talks this week._
- _U.S. stock futures tumbled following the SCMP report, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures plunging more than 300 points at one point._
*Asia stocks were set to trade lower on Thursday* amid dampened expectations for a trade deal between the U.S. and China.
Futures pointed to a lower open for Japanese shares, the Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 21,385, as compared to the Nikkei 225′s last close at 21,456.38.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped fractionally in early trade.
Investors will watch for market reaction to a South China Morning Post report that said the U.S. and China made no progress in deputy level trade talks this week. In discussions that were held earlier in the week, China refused to discuss the issue of forced technology transfers, the report said.
The SCMP report also said that high-level trade negotiations including Chinese Vice Premier Liu He would be cut to one day now, with the delegation from Beijing set to leave Washington on Thursday instead of Friday as originally planned.
The trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing this week were highly anticipated. The two largest economies have struggled to reach a deal to end their trade war that has now lasted for more than a year. Washington and Beijing have slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other’s goods.
Markets in Taiwan are closed on Thursday for a holiday.
*U.S. stock futures tumbled* following the SCMP report, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures plunging more than 300 points at one point. They pointed to a implied opening drop of 284.01 points for the Dow at Thursday’s open stateside, as of 7:05 p.m. ET Wednesday. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures also pointed to declines for the two indexes at Thursday’s open on Wall Street.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 99.118 after bouncing from levels below 99.0 yesterday.
The Japanese yen, often seen as a safe-haven currency in times of market turmoil, strengthened to 107.08 per dollar after seeing lows above 107.2 in the previous session. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6714 after seeing levels above $0.675 earlier in the week.
*What’s on tap:*
Australia: Home loans data for August at 8:30 a.m. HK/SIN
Philippines: Trade data for August at 9:00 a.m. HK/SIN
Japan: Fast Retailing earnings
By: via @AlliesFin Serve T.ME/ALLiESFiN
