• 

NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump’s entry on Tuesday into the 2024 presidential race confirmed the world’s “worst kept secret” and created another variable for markets that some investors say remains a low priority for now.

Trump, who has mounted relentless attacks on the integrity of U.S. voting since his 2020 election defeat, announced his bid at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, seemingly with the aim of pre-empting potential Republican rivals.

Full coverage: REUTERS

Asian Stocks Shaken By Blast in Poland, Dollar Gains

• 

HONG KONG, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Asian stocks dropped and the dollar gained on Wednesday after a blast in Poland that Ukraine and Polish authorities said was caused by a Russian-made missile.

Worries over a potential ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions spurred a drop of 1% in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS).

Australian shares (.AXJO) fell 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index (.N225) dropped 0.1%.

Full coverage: REUTERS

Morning Bid: A Missile And A Manifesto

• 

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Ankur Banerjee

U.S President Joe Biden said a missile that killed two people in Poland may not have been fired from Russia. That comment will be relief to a market rattled at the prospect of the war in Ukraine spilling over to neighbouring countries, but investor’s nerves are frayed and they remain on guard.

A volatile round of trading overnight due to the explosion on Tuesday at a grain facility near the Ukrainian border has continued into Asian hours, with equities lower, the dollar on the front foot and gold prices hovering around a three-month peak.

Full coverage: REUTERS

South Korean Apartment Price Drop At Steepest Pace In Two Decades

• 

SEOUL, Nov 16 (Reuters) – South Korea’s housing prices fell at the sharpest rate in at least 19 years in October, adding to expectations the nation’s central bank will slow its pace of interest rate hikes in the coming weeks.

South Korea’s apartment prices nationwide fell 1.20% in October from a month earlier, according to the Korea Real Estate Board, the biggest monthly drop since the data series began in Nov. 2003, as rising mortgage rates continue to sour demand.

Full coverage: REUTERS

WTO Warns Of ‘Real’ Recession Risk In Some Major Economies

• 

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 16 (Reuters) – The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) warned on Wednesday that several major economies face a real risk of sliding into recession as the war in Ukraine, rising food and fuel costs, and soaring inflation cloud the global outlook.

“It may not happen everywhere, but several key countries risk sliding into recession,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

Full coverage: REUTERS