Asian Stock Markets Fall With Looming Threat of US Shutdown

Asian markets have fallen on fears that the US may be heading for a shutdown of government services.

The US needs to agree a new spending bill before the financial year ends at midnight on Monday. But political divisions have resulted in a stalemate.

There are worries over the economic impact of a failure to do so, which may see non-essential federal services shut and staff placed on unpaid leave.

Stock indexes in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and South Korea all declined.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.5%, Australia’s ASX dropped 1.7%, while South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.7%

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza