TOKYO- Stocks sank in Asia on Thursday, reversing initial gains, as worries about the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policies overtook early optimism from a tepid reading of US inflation.
Gold climbed to within $10 of its record peak and the safe-haven yen rallied, while US Treasury yields turned lower. Crude oil prices also declined.
Gold rose 0.5 percent to as high as $2,947.06, closing in on the record high from February 24 at $2,956.15.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slumped 1.4 percent and mainland Chinese blue chips slid 0.7 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei gave up gains of as much as 1.4 percent to last trade flat, while Taiwanese equities dropped 1.1 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI lost 0.4 percent.
Australia’s stocks benchmark closed down 0.5 percent and is now 10 percent off its record peak struck on February 14, confirming a technical correction.
Futures pointed to a lower start for Wall Street at the reopen, with S&P 500 futures losing 0.5 percent and Nasdaq futures off 0.8 percent.
Pan-European STOXX 50 futures slipped 0.5 percent.
Beaten-down US tech shares led a rebound on Wall Street on Wednesday after data showed US consumer prices rose at the slowest pace since October last month.
The inflation figures were closely watched following a recent run of softer economic data, but ultimately did not capture the impact from.
