Asian Stocks, U.S. Futures Drop Amid Growth Concerns

Asian equities continued their downward trend, extending two weeks of market volatility that has led to hedge fund losses and prompted Wall Street strategists to cut their U.S. stock forecasts, Bloomberg News reporter Chiranjivi Chakraborty wrote.

Market swings reflect growing investor uncertainty, driven by two weeks of frenzied selling amid concerns over rising unemployment and federal workforce cuts. I Photo: TATA Steel (Thailand) Plc

A regional stock index erased early gains, falling 0.4% by afternoon trading. Meanwhile, futures contracts for the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.8%, while S&P 500 futures dropped 0.6%, following a brief boost from lower-than-expected U.S. inflation data on Wednesday.

Treasuries edged higher, while a gauge of dollar strength remained little changed.

Market swings reflect growing investor uncertainty, driven by two weeks of frenzied selling amid concerns over rising unemployment and federal workforce cuts, which threaten U.S. economic growth.

Adding to investor anxiety, President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war and the geopolitical fallout over Ukraine have raised speculation about capital flight from U.S. markets.

“In the near term, market sentiment will largely depend on the U.S. outlook,” said Frank Benzimra, head of Asia equity strategy at Société Générale SA. “It’s unclear whether tariff fears are easing—uncertainty still dominates.”

Amid these concerns, Wall Street analysts have begun revising their market expectations downward. Goldman Sachs became the latest firm to sound the alarm, following similar warnings from Citigroup and HSBC.

Earlier this week, Citi downgraded U.S. equities to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’ while upgrading China to ‘overweight’.