Stock Selloff Deepens on Tax Revamp

HONG KONG (AP) -- Global stock markets extended losses on Friday as growing uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's tax revamp dented investor sentiment.

KEEPING SCORE: European markets fell in early trading. France's CAC 40 dipped 0.1 percent to 5,403.64 and Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1 percent lower to 7,476.09. Germany's DAX crept 0.1 percent lower to 13,177.03. Wall Street was poised to open lower. Dow futures were down 0.2 percent at 23,373.00 and broader S&P 500 futures slipped 0.3 percent to 2,575.80.

TAX TURMOIL: U.S. politicians surprised Wall Street with a proposed delay in cutting corporate taxes. Proposed bills would ultimately slash the tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent but the Senate Republican version wouldn't take effect until 2019. Tax reform is one of Trump's priorities and the plan to push it back by a year is opposed by the White House.

MARKET VIEW: "The reaction in markets wasn't a surprise, given that investors have been pricing in a lot of good news and further pullback may continue for a couple of days or weeks, as many stocks look overbought at the moment," said Hussein Sayed, chief strategist at FXTM.

CHINA ACCESS: Beijing said it will loosen restrictions on foreign ownership stakes in China's financial sector and cut tariffs on auto imports, in an attempt to address complaints from the U.S. and other trading partners. The announcement follows Trump's visit to China, where the U.S. trade deficit was a central issue in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

APEC MEETING: Markets are keeping an eye on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vietnam. Leaders of countries that were part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership are expected to endorse a basic agreement on moving ahead without the U.S. after Trump abandoned the Pacific Rim trade pact.

FORECAST DOWN UNDER: The Australian central bank forecast a "solid pace of growth" averaging about 3 percent over the next couple of years in its latest monetary policy statement. But it also trimmed its inflation and wage growth expectations, suggesting that it will keep benchmark interest rates at their current low levels.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8 percent to close at 22,681.42 and South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3 percent to 2,542.95. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped less than 0.1 percent to 29,120.92, but the Shanghai Composite in mainland China recouped earlier losses, edging up 0.1 percent to 3,432.67. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.3 percent to 6,029.40. Taiwan's index fell and Southeast Asian benchmarks were mostly lower.

CURRENCIES: The dollar weakened to 113.21 yen from 113.44 yen in late trading Thursday. The euro slipped to $1.1639 from $1.1640.

ENERGY: Oil futures were hovering near their highest levels since mid-2015. Benchmark U.S. crude fell dipped 2 cents to $57.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 36 cents to settle at $57.17 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 1 cent to $63.94 a barrel in London.

(BE)