The departure of economic adviser Gary Cohn sparked renewed worries Trump may go ahead with his proposed import tariffs on steel and aluminium.
SINGAPORE: Most Southeast Asian stock markets were muted on Wednesday in line with broader Asia as Wall Street took a breather after its record-setting run, dampening momentum in global equities.
Broader Asian stocks came off an all-time high as weaker oil and commodity prices hurt resource shares, after U.S. energy stocks took a hit overnight on a drop in oil prices from three-year highs.
"The minor decline in Wall Street has spurred some selling pressure in regional markets," said Manny Cruz, an analyst at Asiasec Equities Inc.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.4 percent as of 0415 GMT.
Singapore shed as much as 0.3 percent as financials fell, putting the index on track for its first losing session in four.
The city-state's export growth slowed more than expected in December due to a fall in electronics trade and the first decline in shipments to China in over a year, data showed.
Singapore's top lenders Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and DBS Group lost 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Malaysian shares lost as much as 0.3 percent, with power generator Tenaga Nasional shedding 0.6 percent and telecom Axiata Group retreating 1.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Thai shares reversed early losses to inch higher, as gains in real estate stocks more than offset losses in energy stocks.
Petroleum explorer PTT Exploration and Production fell as much as 2.7 percent while Land and Houses PCL gained 4.5 percent to touch its highest in well over four years.
Philippine shares were set for a fourth straight session of gains as Ayala Corp gained 2.2 percent and International Container Terminal Services firmed 3.4 percent.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday proposed to cut the corporate tax rate and rationalise fiscal incentives to investors in the second of five tax-reform packages submitted to Congress. - Reuters
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
