- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
Markets drop on economy worries, yen rallies after US debate
Equities slipped Wednesday as worries about the world's top two economies offset US rate cut optimism, while the yen hit a nine-month high after a Bank of Japan official hinted at more monetary tightening.
The Japanese unit was also boosted by bets on a Kamala Harris presidency after she was considered to have come out on top in her US presidential debate with Donald Trump and superstar Taylor Swift endorsed her.
The chances of Trump losing also weighed on bitcoin after he had previously vowed to be a "pro-bitcoin president" if elected in November.
Nervous traders were jockeying for position ahead of key US inflation data that could play a role in the Federal Reserve's decision-making on interest rates next week.
Another round of sub-par US jobs data last week revived worries that the world's top economy was slowing more than expected and could be on course for a recession.
They came a month after a stock rout caused by an equally bad reading on the labour market and added to debate about whether the Fed had waited too long to cut rates owing to its focus on bringing inflation down.
Investor uncertainty over the United States is compounded by the struggles of China's economy, as leaders there try to kickstart growth in the face of a crisis in the huge property sector, tepid consumer activity and soaring youth unemployment.
The long-running troubles in the economy, and recent crackdowns on various sectors by the government, have hammered the mainland and Hong Kong stock markets, which have underperformed in recent years.
They fell again on Wednesday, along with most other markets in the region.
Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok, Jakarta, Wellington and Manila were also in the red, though Singapore and Mumbai edged up slightly.
London rose even as data showed the UK economy stalled in July, while Paris and Frankfurt were also both up.
The US consumer price index later in the day will be pored over for an insight into the Fed's plans at its next meeting on September 18 and what it could mean for the economy.
"The die has been cast for a rate cut by the Fed next week," Mark Zandi at Moody's Analytics told AFP.
"The CPI would have to be well above the current consensus... to dissuade the Fed not to ease, and even then the higher CPI would have to be due to an unlikely broad-based re-acceleration in price increases.
"While a 50 basis points cut is possible, it is less than likely, regardless of the CPI print, as the Fed would cut that much only if something in the economy or financial system was going off the rails. That isn't happening."
On currency markets, the yen strengthened to 140.71 per dollar at one point -- its best level since the turn of the year -- after BoJ board member Junko Nakagawa said officials were determined to keep tightening policy.
The bank's surprise decision in July to hike for the second time in 17 years was a factor in the global markets sell-off days later as the yen surged and investors unwound their so-called carry trades in which they used the cheap currency to buy high-yielding assets such as stocks.
The strong debate performance by Harris also weighed on the dollar.
Some observers have said Trump's policies -- including tax cuts and more China tariffs -- could push up inflation, which could cause the Fed to pause or slow down its rate cuts.
Bitcoin slipped more than one percent. Trump said in July that if he regained the White House, he would not allow the US government to sell its holdings of the cryptocurrency.
Oil prices bounced more than one percent after being hammered around four percent Tuesday, when Brent fell below $70 a barrel for the first time since December 2021 on concerns about the global outlook and after the OPEC oil cartel revised down its demand estimates.
Commentators said that offset expectations for a US rate cut and OPEC's decision to hold out output increases.
- Key figures around 0710 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.5 percent at 35,619.77 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 17,079.67
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 2,721.80 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,223.70
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 141.36 yen from 142.44 yen on Tuesday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1045 from $1.1023
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3087 from $1.3083
Euro/pound: UP at 84.39 pence from 84.25 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $66.62 per barrel (close)
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.3 percent at $70.10 per barrel (close)
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 40,736.96 points (close)
J.Pereira--PC