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Asian stocks dragged by tech, yen gains little traction as BOJ holds

Asian stocks slid on Thursday as chipsector stocks tracked overnight decreases by Wall Street peers and Facebook owner Meta Platforms warned of speeding up expenses for artificial intelligence.

More megacap tech earnings are due later on in the day from Apple and Amazon.

The yen hovered near to a three-month low against the dollar, weighed down by political instability as a drubbing for Japan's ruling coalition in parliamentary elections last weekend could postpone a normalisation of financial policy.

The Bank of Japan made little mention of politics when keeping rates the same on Thursday, restating only that there were lots of uncertainties about the economic outlook.

Its policy statement ran to simply 2 lines, while a. different economic upgrade revealed it still planned to tighten. policy gradually if the economy established as anticipated.

More broadly, the dollar was relaxing, having. pulled back from a near three-month peak to major peers on. Wednesday.

Investors were likewise treading warily ahead of U.S. non-farm. payrolls information on Friday, the governmental election next Tuesday. and a Federal Reserve policy decision on Thursday.

Japan's Nikkei share average fell 0.5% as of 0155. GMT. South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.3%.

North Korea stirred local tensions by test shooting what a. U.S. authorities said was an intercontinental ballistic missile. into the sea off the reclusive country's east coast on Thursday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.2%, however mainland. Chinese blue chips slipped 0.7%. Investors are. waiting for more clarity on stimulus from Beijing next week, when. officials convene a week-long congress.

Surveys on production and services in China did reveal some. pick up in activity, with the main acquiring supervisors'. index (PMI) rose to 50.1 in October.

Taiwanese markets were shuttered due to a tropical cyclone.

S&P 500 futures alleviated 0.35%, while Nasdaq futures. dipped 0.47%. The Philadelphia SE semiconductor index. plunged 3.35% over night, with Advanced Micro Gadgets. tumbling more than 10% following dour projections.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures both. relieved 0.4%, while FTSE futures fell 0.1%.

HARD MONTH FOR YEN

The U.S. dollar index was stable at 104.15 following. its pullback from the greatest given that Aug. 2 at 104.63 reached on. Tuesday.

The dollar was a portion lower on the yen at 153.36. , but not far from this week's high of 153.885.

The dollar is still up a heady 6.8% up until now in October. and heading for its best month considering that late 2016 as political. unpredictability in Japan further hold-ups rate hikes.

The euro has actually also acquired 4% on the yen this month to. reach 166.65 yen.

Japan's untidy political circumstance is an advantage for currency. speculators, stated Shoki Omori, primary Japan desk strategist at. Mizuho Securities. However for the most part, the ball is on the. dollar side, he stated.

If the U.S. sees more mixed information, we might see greater. volatility in the set, Omori said. Non-farm payrolls is going. to change the photo if it comes out completely various from. agreement.

The individual intake expenses index, the Fed's. preferred procedure of inflation, is also due in the future Thursday.

On the other hand, in the final stretch of the U.S. governmental. contest, viewpoint surveys still put Republican Donald Trump and. Democrat Kamala Harris neck-and-neck, although monetary markets. and some wagering platforms have actually been favoring a Trump. triumph.

Gold reached a fresh all-time high of $2,790.15 per. ounce.

Oil rates extended a rally from Wednesday, driven by. optimism over U.S. fuel need following an unexpected drop in. crude and gasoline stocks.

Brent crude futures acquired 0.5% to $72.90 a barrel. and U.S. West Texas Intermediate unrefined futures climbed. 0.5% to $68.93 per barrel. Both contracts increased more than 2% in. the previous session.

(source: Reuters)