Risk off trade re-entered the markets ahead of the Friday Asian trading day as investors on Wall Street sold off on growing uncertainty over the Trump administration’s ability to follow through on its economic policies.

Doubts over President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out proposed economic policies grew following rumors that National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn would be the next key member to resign from the administration. The rumor was later refuted by the White House.

The latest political developments took place after Trump on Wednesday disbanded two advisory councils comprising high level business executives. Several members of those councils had resigned over the president’s response to violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Despite the backlash following his earlier comments, Trump on Thursday said in a series of tweets that efforts to remove Confederate monuments in the U.S. were sad for the “history and culture of our great country.”

Indexes on Wall Street closed lower on dampened investor sentiment, with the Dow Jones industrial average posting its largest one-day fall in three months. The Dow tumbled 1.24 percent, or 274.14 points, to close at 21,750.73, the S&P 500 sank 1.54 percent, or 38.10 points, to close at 2,430.01 and the Nasdaq fell 1.94 percent, or 123.19 points, to finish the session at 6,221.91.

Markets also kept an eye on news of a terror attack which involved a van driving into crowds near a popular tourist destination in Barcelona, Spain, on Thursday. At least 13 were killed in the attack, which also injured more than 100 others.

Back in Asia, futures pointed to a lower open for Japanese equities. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were down 1.16 percent at 19,475 and Osaka futures fell 1.13 percent to 19,480. Those were firmly below the Nikkei 225’s Thursday close of 19,702.63.

Meanwhile, Australian SPI futures sank 1.46 percent to 5,695 compared to the benchmark index’s last close of 5,779.207.

Market movers during the session could include Wynn Macau. The Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Wynn resorts reported a profit of HK$1.59 billion ($203.47 million) for the first half of the year, above the HK$1.1 billion recorded for the same period a year ago.

In other corporate news, China Unicom said shares of the company traded in Shanghai and Hong Kong would remain suspended due to a lack of details over a fundraising deal, Reuters reported. The state-owned telecommunications group had earlier announced it was raising around $11.7 billion from investors, including Tencent and Alibaba, as part of mixed ownership reform.

In currencies, the dollar edged up against a basket of currencies in the overnight session after earlier falling on rumors about resignations from the Trump administration. The dollar index stood at 93.622 at 6:55 a.m. HK/SIN.

However, the U.S. currency remained subdued against the yen, with the greenback last fetching 109.44 yen, compared to levels around the 110 handle seen mid-week.

Meanwhile, the euro softened overnight as traders digested minutes from the European Central Bank about a potential overshoot in the common currency. The euro last stood at $1.1727, which was below the $1.180 handle seen at the beginning of the week.

Here’s the economic calendar for today (all times in HK/SIN):

• 9:30 a.m.: China July house price index
• 12:00 p.m.: Malaysia second-quarter GDP
• 4:30 p.m.: Taiwan second-quarter GDP

— CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.