Asian stocks down as US govt stalemate continues
The US government shutdown is affecting Asian markets.
The US government shutdown is affecting Asian markets.
Asian markets are down across the board as fears over the US government shutdown continue to grow.
The shutdown has been in effect since the start of the month and is currently showing no signs of coming to an end any time soon.
A regional gauge of Asian markets dropped from a four-month high as investors grew cautious about the ongoing situation in the US, where president Barack Obama is trying to persuade Congress to approve a new budget deal.
Angus Gluskie, managing director at White Funds Management, explained that the situation in the US is causing "market volatility".
Speaking to Bloomberg, he said: "The two political parties do need to reach an agreement. If there’s no deal by Thursday, markets will fall further. Investors are getting a little bit concerned on China after seeing a couple of weak data points."
The Nikkei was closed for a public holiday today (October 14th), but Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.4 per cent, Taiwan's Taiex dropped 0.9 per cent, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 0.5 per cent and New Zealand's NZX 50 Index and South Korea’s Kospi Index (KOSPI) both slid by 0.1 per cent.
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