Asia stocks fall ahead of U.S. presidential debate

Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as investors cut down their risk exposure ahead of the U.S. election and as a deadline for the U.S. stimulus package neared. 

Caution among investors grew as global coronavirus cases rose, with Europe posting record daily new infections.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.11% after U.S. stocks ended lower in the last session. Australian and Japanese markets also fell, while MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe slid 0.09%.

Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.34%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.16%.

U.S. COVID-19 cases climbed 13% to over 393,000 last week. Investors are awaiting key earnings results from companies Tesla Inc and Netflix Inc, as well as the final debate between President Donald Trump and his challenger Joe Biden.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.44%, the S&P 500 fell 1.63%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.65%.

European shares closed lower due to worries on rising coronavirus cases in the region. France and parts of Britain reimposed lockdowns.