Why stocks shrugged off Trump impeachment

By Andreea Papuc

Asian stocks drifted lower after the year’s biggest run-up, though investors largely shrugged off the vote in the U.S. House to impeach President Donald Trump. American futures were flat.

Equities dipped in Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong. They were flat in Seoul. Australia’s dollar climbed after job gains beat forecasts for November and the unemployment rate fell. Ten-year Treasury yields held around 1.90% after rising Wednesday. Shanghai stocks were largely unchanged in early trading after the central bank mounted another liquidity injection in advance of what’s typically a cash squeeze around year-end.

Global stocks are close to all-time highs, though with the U.S.-China trade accord announced Friday yet to be signed, traders are finding few reasons to bid prices higher.

“With the phase one trade deal, if anything markets are now reducing the prospect of political uncertainty and political risk heading into 2020,” Beverley Morris, director of rates and inflation at QIC Ltd., said. “We are not so sure. This is an election year and we are not so sure we’ve seen all that we are going to hear on the trade deal. We are preparing our portfolios for that insurance. We think it’s going to be a bumpy year ahead.“

In Asia, Bank of Japan left its monetary policy settings unchanged amid signs of a thaw in global trade tensions and Tokyo’s plans for fiscal stimulus.

Meanwhile, the pound tried to find a floor after retreating the past two days amid renewed concern of a possible no-deal Brexit. Bitcoin bounced back above $7,000 after slumping to the lowest since May.