Asian stocks struggle with persisting global woes and oil nears two-month low

Asian equities edged down on Wednesday as worries about US corporate profits with tensions in the Middle East weighed on confidence, crude oil hit record lows in two months after Saudi Arabia announced a possible increase in supply.

The broadest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific equities outside Japan declined 0.2%, continuing the more than 2% decline recorded in the previous session.

Global stocks suffered this week from worries over US profits, the Italian government's finances, US trade tensions and growing pressure on Saudi Arabia following the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi diplomacy seemed more and more precarious as Turkey rejected the kingdom's efforts to blame Khashoggi's death for dishonest agents, while US President Donald Trump said Riyadh was organizing the "worst concealment ever".

Hong Kong Hang Seng lost 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6%.

South Korea's KOSPI fell by 0.25 percent and Japan's Nikkei by 0.35 percent, which allowed it to return its previous gains.

Equity losses in the region were however modest, after a series of late purchases helped Wall Street indices reduce most of their past losses caused by panic.

The three main Wall Street indexes fell early Tuesday, but ended the day's low, as investors took depressed shares late in the session.

"The overall sentiment of the market remains fragile, but as Wall Street's resistance showed last night, the sentiment has not completely collapsed," said Junichi Ishikawa, chief strategist of the company's operations. changes at IG Securities in Tokyo.

"We may see more" mini panic "until the mid-term elections in the United States, but the end result is that the US economy is doing well and that should prevent degradation feelings."

The dollar was used against the yen, which is often sought after in times of risk aversion. The US currency was 112.49 yen after falling 0.35% overnight.

The greenback was also weighed by lower treasury yields, as recent risk aversion has prompted investors to purchase government bonds. The yield on 10-year Treasury bills was 3.158%, after reaching a three-week low of 3.11 on Tuesday.

The Canadian dollar slowed down the oil slide and held up against its US counterpart as investors continued to bet that the Bank of Canada (BoC) would raise interest rates later on Wednesday.

The Canadian dollar was little changed at C $ 1.3083 per dollar after gaining 0.1% the day before.

"We do not think market declines to date are enough to deter the Fed or the BoC from continuing to raise interest rates, now in the case of the BoC," writes Carl. Weinberg, chief international economist at Economic Aspects of High Frequencies.

"However, the markets will start to rethink the need for a tighter policy if the global stock markets skid."

The Chinese yuan added to yesterday's modest gains and rose to 6.9369 for a dollar of foreign trade, continuing its moderate decline after a low of nearly 6.9445 in two years.

The pound has changed little at $ 1.2976 and is approaching a three-week low of $ 1.2937 during the night.

Sterling briefly earned a half percent against the dollar Tuesday after a media report that the European Union could propose to British Prime Minister Theresa May a customs union across the UK to conclude an agreement on Brexit.

The strength of the pound was fleeting, however, a sign that the market is not convinced by the fact that May can sell any agreement to her Conservative Party colleagues and pbad it to Parliament.

The euro remained stable at $ 1.1443 after rising 0.05% the day before.

The dollar index versus a basket of six major currencies was stable at 96.979 after posting a slight loss the day before.

In commodities, futures on US crude traded at $ 66.41 a barrel after falling from about 4% on Tuesday to a low of $ 65.74 in two months.

Brent futures traded at $ 76.53 a barrel after dropping more than 4% Tuesday to $ 75.88, their lowest level since September 7.

The crude slid after Saudi Arabia said it could deliver more crude if needed, relieving concerns ahead of US sanctions against Iran.

The recent global equity sale has also raised concerns about slowing growth, which is slowing demand for crude oil.