Asian Stocks Follow Wall Street Lower as "Trump Trade" Momentum Cools
Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower on Wednesday as the "Trump trade" momentum cooled. Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 1.7%, South Korea's Kospi lost 2.6%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped for a fourth day.
U.S. stocks had been rising on expectations of Trump's policies boosting the economy, but gave back some gains Tuesday. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%.
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.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 18 cents to $68.30 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 19 cents to $72.08 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 155.06 Japanese yen from 154.51 yen. The euro cost $1.0610, down from $1.0625.