Futures pointed to a steady open for Asian stocks on Wednesday after U.S. markets closed little changed following President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.
The Dow Jones industrial average was nearly flat, closing up 0.01 percent, or 2.89 points, at 2,4360.21. The two other major U.S. stock indexes also finished the day almost unchanged: The S&P 500 finished lower by 0.03 percent at 2,671.92 and the Nasdaq composite eked out a 0.02 percent gain to close above that flat line at 7,266.90.
Trump on Tuesday delivered on a pledge made during his election campaign to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 Iran agreement, announcing that broad sanctions would be reimposed on the country.
The landmark accord, which European nations including Germany and France are also party to, lifted international sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country curbing its nuclear program. Iran says it will stay committed to the agreement and will continue negotiating with other parties to the deal, Reuters reported.
Oil prices declined on Tuesday, but were off their session lows following Trump’s announcement: U.S. crude futures settled lower by $1.67, or 2.4 percent, at $69.06 per barrel after crossing the $70 level for the first time since end-2014 on Monday. Brent crude futures settled 0.6 percent lower at $75.71 after seeing declines of more than 4 percent earlier in the session.
Over in Asia, Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were off by 0.04 percent compared to the benchmark’s previous close. Australian SPI futures were also relatively steady, last trading higher by 0.08 percent.
Corporates in the region that are slated to release full-year results on Wednesday include Toyota, SoftBank Group and Mitsubishi Motors. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and South Korea’s AmorePacific will announce first-quarter earnings later in the day.
In currencies, the dollar was firmer against a basket of currencies in the last session. The dollar index stood at 93.120 at the end of Tuesday after rising to its strongest level in the year earlier in the session.
Against the yen, the dollar was mostly steady, trading at 109.09 at 6:59 a.m. HK/SIN.
The Australian dollar, meanwhile, declined to trade at $0.7448 amid broad strength in the dollar and softer commodity prices overnight.
The economic calendar for Wednesday is relatively light on data (all times in HK/SIN):
- 7:50 a.m.: Japan foreign exchange reserves
- 8:30 a.m.: Australia Westpac consumer confidence index
- 9:00 a.m.: Philippines trade data
Source: cnbc china
Asia poised for steady open after Trump announces plan to withdraw from Iran deal