Gold at record highs as rate cuts beckon, Trump talk hits Taiwan stocks
Gold hit a record and bonds rallied on Wednesday as markets prepared for global interest rates to fall, while stocks in Taiwan slipped after U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump sounded lukewarm in his commitment to the island's defence.
The S&P 500 scaled record highs overnight and futures were steady in Asia. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.1%.
In Taiwan, chipmaker TSMC fell 2%, wiping out almost $16 billion in market value, after Trump questioned U.S. support in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, saying Taiwan should pay for U.S. protection.
It was unclear exactly what Trump was planning, however his selection of trade hawk J.D. Vance as his running mate had already put markets on notice that China will figure heavily in his foreign policy thinking.
Chinese stocks were subdued for a second day running.
The Taiwan dollar slipped slightly to a two-week low. China's yuan steadied at 7.2676 per dollar.
«It is more and more clear to me that Trump should be bullish USD for at least a while,» said Brent Donnelly, president at analytics firm Spectra Markets, as he's expected to impose tariffs and run a higher budget deficit.
«It's hard to imagine USDCNH ending 2024 below 7.25 on a Trump victory in November but it's not hard to imagine it closing above 7.50,» he said, referring to the dollar-yuan pair.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand shares hit their highest since March 2022 after data showed inflation slowing, though the rates market dipped
