Asian shares look set to follow Wall Street's soft lead as US tax worries rise

U.S. markets closed in the red ahead of Asia's Friday trading day as investors shifted their attention from the Federal Reserve's recent meeting to new uncertainty about the chances of tax reform.Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla ., on Thursday confirmed he opposes the Republican party's current tax plan . Other holdouts include Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who has not yet made a decision on the bill and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who had opposed the Senate tax bill but has not signaled where he stands on the joint bill. Vice President Mike Pencedelayed a trip to the Middle East amid uncertainty over passing the bill in the Senate. Pence will be required to break a tie if at least two of the Senate's 52 Republicans oppose the tax bill. Goodbye, net neutrality Also of note was the Federal Communications Commission's decision to scrap net neutrality regulations . Those rules ensured that telecommunication corporations had to give equal treatment to all internet traffic.U.S. equities finished lower on Thursday after those doubts were raised. The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 0.31 percent, or 76.77 points, to close at 24,508.66, the S&P 500 shed 0.41 percent to end at 2,652.01 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.28 percent to finish the session at 6,856.53. The dollar was broadly firmer after falling on the Fed's most recent rate hike. The dollar index (New York Board of Trade (Futures): =USD) , which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies, traded at 93.689 at 7:18 a.m. HK/SIN. Against the yen, however, the greenback (Exchange: JPY=) extended losses to trade at 112.36. Elsewhere, the European Central Bank kept monetary policy steady on Thursday, but upgraded its growth forecast for the region from 2.2 percent to 2.4 percent this year. The euro (Exchange: EURBA=) was softer in response, trading at $1.1769 at 6:51 a.m. HK/SIN compared to a high of $1.1862 touched in the session. "While Draghi's message was more hawkish than the market anticipated, the main takeaway is that even though the economy is improving, they have no plans to raise interest rates anytime soon," Kathy Lien, managing director for FX strategy at BK Asset Management, said in a note. The Bank of England also kept its policy unchanged , a move widely expected by markets. In November, the BOE had raised rates for the first time in nearly a decade from 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent. The pound was a touch firmer, trading at $1.3425. In Asia, futures pointed to Japanese equities coming under pressure at the open. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were off 0.42 percent at 22,600 and Osaka futures were 0.72 percent lower at 22,530. Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: .AXJO) was 0.26 percent lower in early trade. Li & Fung, Dalian Wanda and more Hong Kong's Li & Fung (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 494-HK) said the company would be divesting its furniture, beauty and sweaters verticals for $1.1 billion. The buyer is an entity linked to Hony Capital, a Chinese private equity firm. Chinese developer Dalian Wanda Group said in a statement that its revenue in 2017 was projected to be above 200 billion yuan ($30.2 billion) after an article appearing in local media suggested the company's cash flow "has obviously been cut off." Wanda said it would be taking legal action over the article, which also suggested the company had ties to a corrupt government official.Still to come FridayThe Friday trading day will fairly quiet on the data front (all times in HK/SIN):7:50 a.m.: Japan fourth-quarter tankan12:00 p.m.: Indonesia trade data— CNBC's Natasha Turak and Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report. U.S. markets closed in the red ahead of Asia's Friday trading day as investors shifted their attention from the Federal Reserve's recent meeting to new uncertainty about the chances of tax reform. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla ., on Thursday confirmed he opposes the Republican party's current tax plan . Other holdouts include Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who has not yet made a decision on the bill and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who had opposed the Senate tax bill but has not signaled where he stands on the joint bill. Vice President Mike Pence delayed a trip to the Middle East amid uncertainty over passing the bill in the Senate. Pence will be required to break a tie if at least two of the Senate's 52 Republicans oppose the tax bill. Goodbye, net neutrality Also of note was the Federal Communications Commission's decision to scrap net neutrality regulations . Those rules ensured that telecommunication corporations had to give equal treatment to all internet traffic. U.S. equities finished lower on Thursday after those doubts were raised. The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 0.31 percent, or 76.77 points, to close at 24,508.66, the S&P 500 shed 0.41 percent to end at 2,652.01 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.28 percent to finish the session at 6,856.53. The dollar was broadly firmer after falling on the Fed's most recent rate hike. The dollar index (New York Board of Trade (Futures): =USD) , which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies, traded at 93.689 at 7:18 a.m. HK/SIN. Against the yen, however, the greenback (Exchange: JPY=) extended losses to trade at 112.36. Elsewhere, the European Central Bank kept monetary policy steady on Thursday, but upgraded its growth forecast for the region from 2.2 percent to 2.4 percent this year. The euro (Exchange: EURBA=) was softer in response, trading at $1.1769 at 6:51 a.m. HK/SIN compared to a high of $1.1862 touched in the session. "While Draghi's message was more hawkish than the market anticipated, the main takeaway is that even though the economy is improving, they have no plans to raise interest rates anytime soon," Kathy Lien, managing director for FX strategy at BK Asset Management, said in a note. The Bank of England also kept its policy unchanged , a move widely expected by markets. In November, the BOE had raised rates for the first time in nearly a decade from 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent. The pound was a touch firmer, trading at $1.3425. In Asia, futures pointed to Japanese equities coming under pressure at the open. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were off 0.42 percent at 22,600 and Osaka futures were 0.72 percent lower at 22,530. Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: .AXJO) was 0.26 percent lower in early trade. Li & Fung, Dalian Wanda and more Hong Kong's Li & Fung (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 494-HK) said the company would be divesting its furniture, beauty and sweaters verticals for $1.1 billion. The buyer is an entity linked to Hony Capital, a Chinese private equity firm. Chinese developer Dalian Wanda Group said in a statement that its revenue in 2017 was projected to be above 200 billion yuan ($30.2 billion) after an article appearing in local media suggested the company's cash flow "has obviously been cut off." Wanda said it would be taking legal action over the article, which also suggested the company had ties to a corrupt government official. Still to come Friday The Friday trading day will fairly quiet on the data front (all times in HK/SIN): 7:50 a.m.: Japan fourth-quarter tankan 12:00 p.m.: Indonesia trade data — CNBC's Natasha Turak and Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.

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