SYDNEY- Asian shares tracked Wall Street lower on Thursday as uncertainty over the US election outcome kept investors on edge, while the dollar stood tall near its three-month high, supported by elevated Treasury yields.
Nasdaq futures rose 0.5 percent after Tesla shares jumped 12 percent in after-hours trading after the EV maker reported robust third-quarter profits and surprised analysts with a prediction for 20-30 percent growth in sales next year.
European markets are set for a higher open ahead of a raft of Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) readings that will provide a gauge of the growth momentum in Europe. EUROSTOXX 50 futures gained 0.2 percent while FTSE futures rose 0.5 percent.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 0.1 percent but MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.6 percent, pressured by falls in Chinese shares.
Both Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s blue chips dropped 1.2 percent.
Overnight on Wall Street, shares fell for the third straight day with major losses in the so-called Magnificent Seven tech stocks ahead of their earnings results. Nvidia for example, fell almost 3 percent.
A spate of strong US data and less dovish communication from Federal Reserve officials have lessened the odds of aggressive rate cuts in the months to come. Adding to market nerves is rising expectations of a possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.
US bond yields kept pushing higher overnight, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hitting a three month top of 4.26 percent. The sell-off in Treasuries steadied a little on Thursday, with ten-year yields down 3 basis points to 4.2157 percent.
“This sell-off in both equities and bonds is obviously not merely rotation, but risk re-pricing,” said analysts at Mizuho.
“Crucially, the evidence suggests that it is rising yields that are driving, rather than being passively driven by, liquidation.”