WELLINGTON: Asian stocks will likely struggle on Monday, as the protracted struggle to reach an agreement over the U.S. debt ceiling has markets nervously watching and weighing the odds of a sovereign default in the world's largest economy.
With no sign of a solution to the impasse, the White House Chief of Staff warned of stressful days ahead, with the deadline to lift the $14.3 trillion limit nine days away.
U.S. stock index futures are down more than 1 percent, with one analyst warning a short-term default could be "like Lehman on steroids," in terms of its market impact.
The traditional safe-haven for investors in turbulent times, gold, rallied to a new high of $1616.89 in early Asian trade on Monday.
On Friday the main Wall Street indices were mixed with the Dow Jones industrial average falling as Caterpillar missed estimates, while the S&P 500 and tech-laden Nasdaq eked out small gains, on hopes a debt deal might be struck, and stronger earnings from chip makers.
Asian stocks listed on Wall Street rose 0.49 percent while world stocks, as measured by the MSCI world equity index, gained 0.44 percent.
British shares were 0.6 percent higher and European shares gained 0.5 percent, with markets still trading on the relief of the deal to secure a second financial rescue package for Greece.
The U.S. dollar slipped as debt negotiations continue to be closely watched, falling to a near four-month low against the yen.
Japanese markets look likely to open flat, with Nikkei futures traded in Chicago 20 points above the last closing level in Osaka.
Australian stocks are set to slip, with share price index futures up 3 points to 4,590, a 12.9 point discount to the close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index. ' Reuters
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With no sign of a solution to the impasse, the White House Chief of Staff warned of stressful days ahead, with the deadline to lift the $14.3 trillion limit nine days away.
U.S. stock index futures are down more than 1 percent, with one analyst warning a short-term default could be "like Lehman on steroids," in terms of its market impact.
The traditional safe-haven for investors in turbulent times, gold, rallied to a new high of $1616.89 in early Asian trade on Monday.
On Friday the main Wall Street indices were mixed with the Dow Jones industrial average falling as Caterpillar missed estimates, while the S&P 500 and tech-laden Nasdaq eked out small gains, on hopes a debt deal might be struck, and stronger earnings from chip makers.
Asian stocks listed on Wall Street rose 0.49 percent while world stocks, as measured by the MSCI world equity index, gained 0.44 percent.
British shares were 0.6 percent higher and European shares gained 0.5 percent, with markets still trading on the relief of the deal to secure a second financial rescue package for Greece.
The U.S. dollar slipped as debt negotiations continue to be closely watched, falling to a near four-month low against the yen.
Japanese markets look likely to open flat, with Nikkei futures traded in Chicago 20 points above the last closing level in Osaka.
Australian stocks are set to slip, with share price index futures up 3 points to 4,590, a 12.9 point discount to the close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index. ' Reuters
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