Asian Stocks Follow Wall Street Lower as "Trump Trade" Momentum Cools
Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower on Wednesday as the initial momentum of the "Trump trade" that swept U.S. markets after Donald Trump's presidential victory began to cool.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 1.7% due to rising inflation. South Korea's Kospi lost 2.6%, with Samsung Electronics shares hitting a four-year low. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped for a fourth day, while the Shanghai Composite gained slightly.
U.S. futures dropped while oil prices were higher. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen on Tuesday after setting record highs, with smaller companies and Tesla taking the biggest hits.
A jump in Treasury yields also added pressure on the stock market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.42% on Tuesday from 4.31% late Friday.
The next update on inflation will arrive Wednesday, with economists expecting it to show inflation accelerated to 2.6% in October from 2.4% the month before.
In the crypto market, bitcoin soared to another record before pulling back. Trump has embraced cryptocurrencies generally and pledged to make his country the crypto capital of the world. Bitcoin got as high as $89,995, according to CoinDesk, before dipping back toward $89,500. It started the year below $43,000.