Most Asian markets decline following Donald Trump's failure to provide clarity on economic policies

Most Asian stock market indices were trading lower on Thursday (12 January) with the Shanghai Composite down 0.20% at 3,130.61 as of 5.55am GMT following Donald Trump's first press conference as president-elect on Wednesday.

According to analysts, the conference belied expectations as Trump had failed to provide any clarity on his future policies. He is reported to have failed to talk about various promises made at the time of his campaigning such as lower taxes and increased infrastructure spending.

"Trump made a couple of references to 'making America great again' but there was no detail on infrastructure spending, corporate tax reform, personal income tax cuts, the prospects for deregulation or the possibility of another tax repatriation holiday," Westpac Global Strategy Group said in a note.

Analysts said Trump's promises were the reason both the dollar and the US stock markets had surged in the recent past. Disappointment over Trump pulled down the dollar, which in turn had a bearish effect on the Asian markets.

"The US dollar rally was based on the assumption Trump's administration will push through a massive infrastructure building and fiscal stimulus package, which will lead to higher inflation in the future...That assumption is now unwinding, because the president-elect did not even mention the key word 'stimulus,'" Margaret Yang, market analyst at CMC Markets, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 6.10am GMT:

On 11 January, the FTSE 100 Index closed 0.21% higher at 7,290.49, while the S&P 500 index ended 0.28% higher at 2,275.32.

Among commodities, oil prices were trading mixed. As of 1.01am EST, WTI crude oil was trading 0.13% lower at $52.18 (£42.70) a barrel, while Brent crude was trading 0.04% higher at $55.12 a barrel.