Alabama election steals markets’ focus from US Fed’s interest rate decision
Tokyo — US stock futures, Treasury yields and the dollar fell on Wednesday as Democrat Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore in a bitter US Senate race in Alabama, while Asian shares edged up as crude oil futures took back lost ground. Jones’s victory could mean trouble for President Donald Trump and his populist political base. It would narrow the Republicans’ already slim majority in the US Senate, possibly making it harder for Trump to advance his policy agenda. The election temporarily seized the spotlight away from the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to raise interest rates later on Wednesday and could provide clues about the timing of future US policy moves. S&P e-mini futures were down as much as 0.3%, compared with their 0.1% drop before the Alabama polls closed. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rival currencies, was down 0.2% at 93.948 pulling away from three-week highs touched on Tuesday. The dollar slumped 0.3% to ¥113.26...
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