Asian indices decline on US stimulus package uncertainty ahead of polls

Global stock markets and US futures declined on Thursday as hopes of US leaders agreeing on a new economic aid before the presidential election faded.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P500 had dropped 0.7 per cent on Wednesday, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he and congressional leaders were “far apart” on a new aid for the struggling economy. Consumer spending, the main US economic engine, weakened after earlier additional unemployment benefits expired. Mnuchin “added another nail to the coffin on pre-election stimulus,” said Jingyi Pan of IG.

Thursday brings a EU summit that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had set as a deadline