THE HONG KONG JITTERS

• On Thursday, Asian share markets tumble as concerns that tensions over Hong Kong could stymie a U.S.-China trade deal cast a pall over Thanksgiving cheer from unexpectedly positive U.S. economic data.

• On Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law congressional legislation backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong despite angry objections from Beijing.

• The next round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods is due to take effect on Dec. 15.

• Wall Street indexes hit fresh record highs overnight, buoyed by trade deal hopes and data showing U.S. economic growth picked up slightly in the third quarter, rather than slowing as first reported. Other data showed the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits fell. There are signs the downturn in business investment may be drawing to a close and the U.S. Federal Reserve said the outlook was bright.

• The dollar and trade-exposed currencies were spurned and safe-havens such as the Japanese yen sought after Trump signed the Hong Kong bills into law.

• The yen rose 0.2% to 109.37 yen per dollar, while riskier currencies such as the Australian dollar fell by the same margin to $0.6763.

• The British pound bobbed higher after a model for pollsters YouGov, which accurately predicted the 2017 election, said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on course to win a fat majority in parliament at the Dec. 12 election.

• Gold was slightly higher,was traded at $1456.9929 per ounce.

• U.S. crude dipped 0.15% to $58.02 a barrel. Brent crude fell to $64.13 per barrel.