Sydney — Asian shares and US stock futures slipped on Tuesday as pessimism about world growth drove investors away from risky assets, while sterling dithered as the latest plan for Brexit appeared to come and go with no progress. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5%, drifting away from a recent seven-week top. Losses were led by Chinese shares, with the blue-chip index off 0.6%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.4% and Australia’s main share index faltered 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei, which had opened firmer, was flat. US stock futures, which offer an indication of how Wall Street will open, were down about 0.5%. US markets were closed on Monday for a holiday so trading was generally subdued overnight. However, equity prices in Europe and Latin America were hit after data showed a slowdown in growth in China, the world’s second-biggest economy. Adding to the air of caution and uncertainty, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) trimmed its global growth ...
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