Futures pointed to a lower open for Asian equities on Thursday, following comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump that the dollar was too strong.
The dollar tanked after Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that it was getting “too strong.” He also said the reason for the strong dollar was “partially” his fault as “people have confidence in (him).”
The dollar index dropped to its lowest level since March 30 following the comments. It last traded against a basket of currencies at 100.18, continuing a third straight session of declines.
Trump also said that he would ultimately not label China a currency manipulator despite promising to do so while campaigning for the presidency last year.
Nikkei futures in Chicago traded 0.36 percent down at 18,485, while futures in Osaka were lower by 0.45 percent at 18,470, against the benchmark index close at 18,552.61. Australia SPI futures were 0.64 percent lower at 5,896 compared to the ASX 200 close of 5,933.958.
Stateside, U.S. equities were lower across the board. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 0.29 percent or 56.44 points to close at 20,591.86, the S&P 500 fell 0.38 percent or 8.85 to end at 2,344.93 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.52 percent or 30.61 points to finish at 5,836.16.
Markets are waiting on earnings announcements from several major U.S. financials, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. The banks are expected to report results on Thursday ET.
In corporate news, Western Digital warned that troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba will breach a joint venture contract if it sells its memory chip unit. Toshiba is looking to spin off its memory business in order to cover billions in losses incurred by its U.S. nuclear arm, Westinghouse.
On the energy front, oil futures dropped after Energy Information Administration (EIA) data reflected that U.S. production continued to rise. Brent crude was lower by 37 cents to settle at $55.86 a barrel while U.S. crude was down by 29 cents to settle at $53.11. Oil futures had hit a one-month high in the session before.
On the currencies front, the dollar/yen traded at 109.02, falling further from the 109.6 levels from the previous session. The Aussie traded at $0.7529, gaining from the $0.74 handle seen in the last session at 6:40 am HK/SIN.
A barrage of economic data is expected later today. Singapore will report advanced Q1 GDP at 8:00 am HK/SIN, followed by the Bank of Korea announcing its rate decision at 9:00 am HK/SIN. Australia will report March employment data at 9:30 am. China March trade data is expected later in the morning.