D-Wave Quantum falls nearly 3% as earnings miss overshadows revenue beat
* Trump Whistleblower report seen raising U.S. uncertainties
* U.S.-China trade talks expected in early October
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Asian shares were on course for a
second straight week of losses on Friday as the release of a
whistleblower complaint against U.S. President Donald Trump
heightened uncertainties about the global economy, already
reeling from Sino-U.S. trade war.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS slipped 0.09%, having fallen 1.4% so far this
week, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 slid 0.54%.
U.S. S&P500 futures ESc1 lost 0.08% in early Asian trading
after the index lost 0.24% on Thursday.
A whistleblower report released on Thursday said President
Donald Trump not only abused his office in attempting to solicit
Ukraine's interference in the 2020 U.S. election for his
political benefit, but that the White House tried to "lock down"
evidence about that conduct.
The report came after the U.S. House of Representatives
Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched an impeachment inquiry into him
this week.
"The start of the impeachment inquiry adds a new element of
uncertainties to markets, in addition to ongoing concerns about
the U.S.-China trade war and the risk of a U.S. recession," said
Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ
Morgan Stanley Securities.
"While no one thinks the Senate will vote for his
impeachment given the Republican majority there, we could see
more new revelations during a long investigation process," he
added, noting that U.S. stocks fell considerably when former
President Bill Clinton was impeached.
On trade issues, news headlines were too mixed for investors
to show a clear reaction.
CNBC reported that trade war talks were scheduled for Oct.
10-11 in Washington, citing people familiar with the
arrangements, and China's top diplomat said China was willing to
buy more U.S. products. But other media reports on Thursday that the United States
is unlikely to allow American firms to supply China's Huawei
Technologies HWT.UL undermined hopes of a complete deal.
The damage is already evident with Micron Technology Inc
MU.O , a major Huawei supplier, which forecast first-quarter
profit below Wall Street targets, pushing its share prices down
7% in after-hours trade. In the currency market, the euro flirted with 2 1/2-year
lows amid concerns about sluggish growth in the currency bloc,
with fear of recession in its powerhouse, Germany.
The euro stood at $1.0918 EUR= after hitting a near 2
1/2-year low of $1.0909.
Some market players suspect the dollar was also helped by
continued tightness in dollar funding after U.S. short-term
borrowing costs shot up last week.
The dollar traded at 107.82 yen JPY= , after climbing to
107.96 on Thursday.
Sterling traded at $1.2327 GBP=D4 , near two-week low of
$1.2303 hit on Thursday, as investors waited for the British
parliament's next attempt to break the Brexit impasse.
The Mexican peso weakened to a 2 1/2-week low of 19.675 to
the dollar MXN= after Mexico's central bank cut its key
interest rate on Thursday, with more cuts seen on the horizon.
Oil prices steadied off two-week lows as a Pentagon
statement intensified concerns of a Middle East conflict and
supply disruptions, although the impeachment inquiry into U.S.
President Donald Trump kept risk assets broadly in check.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 0.53% to $62.41 a barrel
but stayed above Wednesday's low of $61.23, while U.S. West
Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 lost 0.2% to $56.30 per
barrel, off their low of $55.41 on Thursday.