A woman is reflected on an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/ File Photo
The U.S. election has entered its final stretch, with opinion polls still too close to call a winner, despite some betting sites and financial markets leaning toward a win for Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.65 per cent higher, paring earlier gains of as much as 1.6 per cent. Mainland Chinese blue chips slipped 0.1 per cent, giving up an early rise of 0.68 per cent."The conviction to take these markets higher, we just don't have that," said Tony Sycamore, a markets analyst at IG."We're in a very, very tricky period here. It just doesn't make sense to be chasing risk at this time.
Recent robust U.S. economic data, including evidence of a resilient job market, have seen bets pared back for easing this year by the Federal Reserve, boosting the dollar. The dollar slipped 0.24 per cent to 152.92 yen, but that followed a rally to the highest since July 31 at 153.885 yen on Monday.