[MARKET ANALYSIS] Asia-Pac stocks are mostly lower as oil rebounds amid geopolitical risks and with Samsung Electronics missing lofty expectations

APAC Stocks: Mostly negative

• Asia-Pac equities are mostly on the back foot following the negative handover from Wall St, where stock markets pulled back from recent record highs amid bond market volatility, while sentiment overnight is not helped by a rebound in oil amid geopolitical risks after reports that the US military has been ordered to be ready for possible Iran strikes as President Trump weighs the timing and could resume strikes before the Midterm elections, but with no decision made.

ASX 200: -0.6%

• Index is dragged lower as weakness in miners, materials and resources clouds over the gains in energy and resilience in defensives, while there was also an uptick in inflation expectations.

Nikkei 225: -0.7%

• Retreated back beneath the 70,000 level as it continues to fade its recent tech-driven rally, while the TOPIX underperforms following the announcement that the Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to reduce the number of constituents in the index by about 40% to 986 stocks.

KOSPI -1.0%

• Underperforms, with the index not helped by indecision in Samsung Electronics shares following its preliminary Q3 earnings results, which showed operating profit surged 783% Y/Y, but missed the lofty expectations.

Hang Seng & Shanghai Comp: Hang Seng -0.7% / Shanghai Comp -0.2%

• Chinese markets are subdued despite the resumption of trading in the mainland following a week-long hiatus, with pressure seen in tech stocks and sentiment was also not helped by trade frictions as the EU is said to be preparing a temporary import cap on Chinese hybrid cars.

US Equity Futures: Rangebound

• Trades little changed overnight following the subdued performance on Wall St.

European Equity Futures Flat

• Indicate a flat cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures unchanged after the cash market closed with losses of 1.5% on Wednesday.