REFILE-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks dip as U.S. political concerns grow

(Corrects to add dropped word in paragraph 2)
By Paulina Duran and Jessica DiNapoli
SYDNEY/NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Asian stocks slipped on
Tuesday as investors adjusted risk exposure heading into the
U.S. election and as a deadline for Washington to pass an
economic stimulus bill approached while Europe reported record
daily coronavirus infections.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was 0.11% lower after U.S. stocks ended the
previous session in the red. Australian .AXJO and Japanese
.N225 markets also dipped and MSCI's gauge of stocks across
the globe .MIWD00000PUS was 0.09% lower.
Chris Weston, the head of research at Melbourne brokerage
Pepperstone, said while there were worries about the U.S.
stimulus package, recent declines were likely due to positioning
ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. "Do you really want to hold those exposures into what could
be a volatility event?" Weston said. "We're getting into the
Wild West territory where it becomes more whippy."
Caution among investors globally was also driven by rising
concerns about the risk of a disputed U.S. election outcome.
"Such an event would very likely upset global markets
considerably until the U.S. reaches an accepted resolution,"
said American Century co-CIO Keith Creveling.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 slipped 0.34%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng
index .HSI bucked the trend to rise 0.16%.
Investors await key earnings results later in the week for
companies including Netflix Inc NFLX.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O .

They were also waiting to see if the final debate between
U.S. President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe
Biden on Thursday shifts the trajectory of the election.
The number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States last
week rose 13% to more than 393,000, approaching levels last seen
during a summer peak, according to a Reuters analysis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 1.44%, the S&P
500 .SPX was 1.63% lower and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
settled down 1.65%. European shares closed lower as surging COVID-19 cases
raised investor concerns. Parts of the UK were put into lockdown
and France imposed curfews. In contrast to equity markets, currency markets were less
pessimistic about the prospect of a stimulus breakthrough with
the safe-haven dollar edging slightly lower amid expectations
that U.S. lawmakers might still agree on a fiscal stimulus
package at the 11th hour. Greenback moves, however, were modest with the dollar index
=USD 0.015% lower on Tuesday. The dollar rose 0.03% against
the yen to 105.46 JPY= while the euro EUR= was up 0.03% to
$1.1772.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 fell 0.2% versus the
greenback at $0.7045, hurt by expectations that the central bank
would soon cut rates and expand its massive bond buying campaign
to lower borrowing costs. In oil markets, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
CLc1 futures fell 0.3% to $40.69 a barrel while Brent crude
LCOc1 futures dipped 0.6% to $42.36 a barrel.

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(Editing by Sam Holmes)