· European markets opened lower on Wednesday after the U.K.’s Brexit deal with the EU was rejected by lawmakers in a landmark defeat for British Prime Minister Theresa May.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 traded fairly flat with sectors across mixed territories. Autos traded at the top of the index, up 0.37 percent and household goods sector was at the bottom of the index.
· Asian shares drifted lower on Wednesday as a risk-off mood settled on markets, while a frazzled pound awaited its fate ahead of yet another make-or-break parliamentary vote on Brexit.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS eased 0.45 percent in slow trade.
Risk appetites had soured after British lawmakers crushed Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union divorce deal, forcing parliament to decide within days whether to back a no-deal Brexit or seek a last-minute delay.
Lawmakers voted against May’s amended Brexit deal by 391 to 242 as her last-minute talks with EU chiefs on Monday to assuage her critics’ concerns ultimately proved fruitless.
Parliament will vote later Wednesday on whether to leave the EU with no deal, and if that fails, a further vote on Thursday will decide whether to extend the Brexit dea
· Japan’s Nikkei ended lower on Wednesday as weak machinery orders dragged down shares of machinery makers and exporters, and investors worried about Britain’s exit from the European Union took profits.
Financial stocks, which benefit from higher yields, also underperformed as U.S. yields tumbled under pressure from weak inflation data, supporting expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady this year.
The Nikkei share average ended 1.0 percent lower to 21,290.24 points, after surging 1.8 percent the previous day.
Japanese machinery orders fell in January at the fastest pace in four months as the U.S.-China tariff war hit global trade and dented demand from the country’s auto and telecommunications equipment sectors.
· China stocks ended lower on Wednesday, as caution prevailed ahead of yet another make-or-break parliamentary vote on Brexit, while investors awaited more news on the progress of Sino-U.S. trade negotiations.
The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.8 percent, to 3,724.19 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 1.1 percent at 3,026.95 points.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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