Asian shares slipped on Thursday dragged down by Chinese stocks as recent upbeat economic data raised fears of monetary policy tightening, while the dollar index struggled near one-month lows.
Futures for Eurostoxx 50 and Germany’s DAX started in negative territory while those for London’s FTSE were a tad higher. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.2%.
The mood was less positive in Asia where most major indexes were in the red.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1% after two straight days of gains. It was last at 690.12, a long way from a record high of 745.89 touched in February.
Japan’s Nikkei pared early gains to finish 0.07% higher while New Zealand’s benchmark index fell 0.9%.
Chinese shares stumbled with the blue-chip CSI300 index down 0.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropping 0.8%.
JPMorgan Asset Management said in a note it was trimming its overall Emerging Markets (EM) exposure “mostly driven by a less sanguine outlook on EM Asia.”
