Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac shares tumble after conservatorship comments
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures tumbled and the
safe haven yen and the Swiss franc gained in early Asian trade
on Thursday after a media report that the United States and
China had made no progress in deputy-level trade talks earlier
in the week.
The South China Morning Post also said the Chinese
delegation, headed by Vice Premier Liu He, is planning to leave
Washington on Thursday after just one day of minister-level
meetings, instead of an originally planned departure set for
Friday. S&P500 mini futures ESc1 slumped 1.1% and Chicago-traded
futures NIYcm1 imply a fall of 0.4% for Japan's Nikkei
.N225 .
In the currency market, the yen advanced 0.3% to 107.11 to
the dollar JPY= while the Swiss franc also gained 0.3% to
0.9929 franc per dollar.
The Chinese yuan dropped 0.4% in offshore trade to 7.1685
per dollar CNH= , touching its lowest level in five weeks.
The report on the U.S.-China trade talks came less than a
couple of hours after U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters
he thinks China wants to make a trade deal more than he does.
Chinese government officials told Reuters that Beijing has
lowered expectations for significant progress from this week's
trade talks with the United States, upset by the
blacklisting of Chinese companies. Top negotiators from the two countries -- Chinese Vice
Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin -- were scheduled to meet in
Washington on Thursday and Friday to try to end a bruising
15-month-old trade war.
Without significant progress, Trump is set to hike the
tariff rate on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods to 30% from
25% next Tuesday.
Before the media report on the lack of progress in the trade
talks, share prices had gained on Wednesday, with the S&P 500
.SPX rising 0.91% on hopes of a possible compromise between
the world's two biggest economies.
(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)