Uncertainty gripped Asian markets on Tuesday as investors braced for a potentially pivotal U.S. presidential debate by shunning stocks while favoring safe haven bonds and the yen.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS eased 0.3 percent in early trade, while South Korea .KS11 fell 0.6 percent.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 dropped 1 percent as a higher yen threatened exporter sales and profits.
The debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump starts at 0100 GMT and could have a big impact with the race seemingly so close.
Wall Street fell on Monday as Deutsche Bank weighed on financials and investors hunkered down for the first debate between U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Big banks led the declines as investors worried that Deutsche Bank might need to add additional capital to pay for a$14 billion U.S. demand to settle claims it missold mortgage-backed securities.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.91 percent to end at 18,094.83 points and the S&P 500 lost 0.86 percent to 2,146.1.
Reference: Reuters
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