US equities in New York retreated on Wednesday after projections showed that Republicans gained the six seats for the first Senate majority in almost a decade.
Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures, which expires in December, rose 0.2% to 2,010.40 at the time of writing.
A report from the US Department of Commerce showed that the US trade deficit widened to $43 billion in September, compared to the previous shortfall of $40 billion in the previous month, while analysts forecasted $40.2 billion.
A separate report released showed that the US Factory orders came in line with analysts’ forecast of a 0.6% drop in September. The US Labour Department is expected to release a report that may show an addition of 229,000 jobs.
Stocks in the Asian region were seen trading mixed on Wednesday.
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The Japanese Nikkei 225 index edged 0.06% higher to 16,872.18 points, while Tokyo’s Topix index fell 0.09% lower to 1,367.35 points.
The Japanese yen weakened against the US dollar, trading around 113.77 yen on Wednesday against 113.50 yen on Tuesday.
Earlier this week the Bank of Japan announced an unexpected increase to the country’s monetary base to 80 trillion yen annually from the current 60-70 trillion.
The weaker yen boosted gains, as Japan Steel Works rallied 7%, while Pacific Metals added 2%, Sharp rose by more than 3% and Nissan Motors advanced 2%. Property developers also saw gains, with Tokyu Fodusan sliding 2.5%, Mitsubishi Estate declined 3% and Mitsui Fudosan lost 1.5%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index receded 0.19% to 23,801.38 points, while the Chinese mainland Shanghai Composite slightly rose 0.09% to 2,432.86 points.
China’s manufacturing gauge from the HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics came in at 52.9 in October, falling from last month’s reading of 53.5. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing activity, while a reading below 50 represents contraction.
The South Korean Kospi index rose 0.34% to 1,941.77 points, while Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.61% lower to 5,486.30 points.
European stocks advanced on Wednesday as the market await services PMI reports for the euro-block, due later in the day.
Europe’s Euro Stoxx 50 index added 0.42% to 3,047.11, while in France the benchmark CAC 40 index gained 0.38% to 4,145.92. Germany’s DAX 30 index jumped 0.68% to 9,228.97 at the time of writing as analysts forecast the services activity for the country to worsen in October to 54.8 points.
Spain’s services sector expanded October to 55.9 points, according to Markit Economics, while Italy’s services activity is projected to expand to 49.4, but remain in contraction.
The Services PMI for France is expected to come in at 48.1 points, while the services activity for the eurozone as a whole is forecasted to expand to 52.4 points.
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