Hong Kong — US stock futures and the dollar fell on Monday while Asian markets struggled as President Donald Trump’s failure on healthcare reform raised questions about his ability to push through tax cuts and fiscal spending to boost the economy. Trump’s inability to get enough support from his own Republican party to "repeal and replace" the Obamacare health insurance reforms, a major campaign promise, also spurred a rush to safety assets such as gold and the Japanese yen. US stock index futures fell 0.7% to a six-week low in heavy volume, suggesting a weaker start on Wall Street later in the day. So-called "Trumpflation trades" — betting on an extended recovery in the US and global economies and related assets such as commodities — came under heavy selling pressure. "Markets have had a good run recently and this is a good opportunity for profit-taking across counters," said Alex Wong, a fund manager at Ample Capital in Hong Kong, with about $130m under management. But Wong said t...
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