Asian stocks dip as FBI says Iran, Russia are meddling in US elections

• Risk sentiment weakened in Asia on reports of foreign intervention in US elections. 
• Major Asian indices and S&P 500 futures declined, pushing the dollar higher.

Asian stocks and US index futures dropped on Thursday, with American officials warning about Russia and Iran looking to interfere in US elections. 

In an impromptu news conference Tuesday night, John Ratcliffe, the intelligence director, and FBI Director Chris Wray said Iran and Russia have obtained voter registration information. Officials warned that the US would impose costs on nations trying to meddle in elections due on Nov. 3.

Also, concerns that an additional US fiscal stimulus package is unlikely to become law before the election weighed over stock markets.
 
The S&P 500 futures fell by 0.7%, and major Asia indices like Japan’s Nikkei, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined at least 0.7%. The Shanghai Composite index also shed more than 1%.

The risk-off tone boosted demand for the anti-risk US dollar. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback’s value against majors, bounced over 0.2% to 92.80, having hit a multi-week low of 92.47 on Wednesday. 

The US 10-year yield also came under pressure, falling from 0.83% to 0.80% as the benchmark bond attracted haven demand.