In Asian Equity Markets stocks traded mostly lower in choppy Wednesday trade following news that a top Trump economic advisor had resigned. The Nikkei 225 slipped 0.67 percent, or 144.42 points. The iron and steel sector, which would likely be affected if recently announced tariffs were implemented by the Trump administration, traded lower by 1.96 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was off by 0.13 percent after notching gains earlier in the day. Despite the broader sentiment in the market, heavyweight Samsung Electronics advanced 3.19 percent and steelmaker Posco rose 0.57 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.97 percent. All of the benchmark’s sub-indexes traded in the red.

In Currency Markets the US dollar extended its latest retreat on Wednesday after a key advocate for free trade in the White House announced his resignation, fanning fears President Donald Trump would go ahead with tariffs and risk a trade war. The dollar fell to as low as 105.45 yen, near Friday’s 16-month low of 105.24 yen and last stood at 105.75 yen, down 0.35 percent on the day. The dollar shed 0.3 percent against the safe-haven Swiss franc, to 0.9379 franc. The euro hit a two-week high of 1.2429 and last stood up 0.1 percent at $1.2412, extending its rise into the fifth day. The Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso also suffered as Cohn’s departure was seen as raising risks Washington could walk out of NAFTA.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell on Wednesday, pulled down by weaker stock markets after a key advocate for free trade in the U.S. government resigned, stoking concerns Washington will go ahead with import tariffs and risk a trade war. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $62.13 a barrel, down 47 cents, or 0.75 percent. Brent futures down 51 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their previous close at $65.28 per barrel. Crude inventories rose by 5.661 million barrels in the week to 426.880 million barrels, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday. Official data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due on Wednesday night.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Tuesday in a choppy session as investors watched anxiously for signs U.S. President Donald Trump would scrap proposed tariffs to avoid a trade war. The S&P 500 ended up 9.28 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,730.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 41.51 points, or 0.57 percent, to 7,372.21. Most of the S&P’s 11 sectors rose with the materials index leading the gainers with a 1.3 percent gain. Utilities was the weakest sector with a 1 percent decline. Among bigger movers, shares in Target were down 4.7 percent after the big-box retailer reported lower-than-expected profit for the holiday quarter.

In Bond Markets short-dated Japanese government bond yields rose on Wednesday ahead of an auction later this week, while longer-dated bond yields dipped as the Bank of Japan’s buying operation highlighted limited selling interest. The two-year JGB yield rose 1.0 basis point to minus 0.160 percent, while the five-year JGB yield rose 0.5 basis point to minus 0.115 percent. The 20-year yield was flat at 0.745 percent, while the 30-year yield dipped 1.0 basis point to 0.865 percent. U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on Tuesday in choppy trading session.  Benchmark 10-year note yields were last at 2.879 percent, unchanged on the day.