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Bonds slide, Asia stocks down as US election looms

Asian stocks turned lower on Tuesday while bond yields and the dollar struck multimonth highs and gold traded near record peaks as investors hunkered down ahead of the U.S. election.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 3 basis points in Asia to 4.21%, extending a sharp relocation higher and hitting the greatest level considering that late July.

U.S. and FTSE stock futures wobbled 0.2%. lower. European futures increased 0.1%.

Investors also took some money off the table in Japan, which. has a general election showing up on Sunday with stocks, bonds. and the yen all falling in tandem as surveys have revealed the. possibility of the ruling coalition losing its majority.

Japan's Nikkei was down 1.4% in afternoon trade to. touch its least expensive since early October, while the yen. hit 151 per dollar for the first time because July and bonds. tracked the selling in U.S. Treasuries.

It's a little capital flight out of Japan, stated Naka. Matsuzawa, Japan macro strategist at Nomura. More broadly, he. said, markets were starting to speculate on a red sweep,. delivering Republicans the White House and Congress in November.

It's not just Trump's policies, it's a greater probability. of Trump winning meaning that the Republicans dominate, he. stated. That rises term premiums and inflation expectations.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. was down 0.7% with benchmark indexes in. Australia and South Korea losing more than 1%

China's markets were pinned well listed below recent highs while. traders await more information and specifically more government. seriousness and spending to support the ailing economy.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was near flat, while the. Shanghai Composite inched 0.2% greater. Hyundai Motor. India's shares fell 2% in a lukewarm launching, with retail. financiers staying away.

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Besides the yen, foreign exchange markets steadied after a. session of offering nearly whatever against the dollar. The. Australian and New Zealand dollars were each up about 0.5% on. the U.S. dollar while the euro and sterling rose 0.1%.

The relocation pressed sterling back over $1.30, though. traders beware as Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is. due to speak at 1325 GMT and has just recently suggested the main. bank can move more strongly to cut rates of interest.

Products stayed under pressure from expectations of. lacklustre Chinese demand and disappointment over the support. plans up until now exposed for China's economy. Iron ore costs fell. more than 1% in Singapore to $100.70 a ton, however. copper prices steadied.

Oil rates likewise steadied and Brent unrefined futures. traded at $73.96 a barrel in Asia. China's oil-demand development is. anticipated to stay weak in 2025, the head of the International. Energy Firm stated on Monday.

A fairly bare information calendar puts additional concentrate on U.S. earnings for insight into the economy and markets' state of mind.

General Motors, Texas Instruments Verizon. , Lockheed Martin and 3M are among those. reporting on Tuesday.

It's waiting game mode till we get some more information, said. ANZ strategist Jack Chambers, with U.S. jobs information on Nov. 1,. ahead of the election on Nov. 5 and the next Federal Reserve. decision, on Nov. 7, the significant marks in the diary.

(source: Reuters)