US election debate does little to sway stock market investors

Global stocks barely budged on Friday as investors remained wary with less than two weeks to go before the United States presidential election and awaited a breakthrough in fiscal stimulus talks in Washington, DC.

The final debate between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Thursday night presented few surprises for election watchers but slightly reinforced investor caution heading into the November 3 polls.

US S&P 500 stock index futures had dipped slightly after the debate but were mostly flat by midday trade in Asia. The underlying index had gained about 0.5 percent in the previous day on hopes that the US Congress and the White House could soon strike a deal on another round of COVID-19 stimulus funding to support companies and jobs.

Shares in Asia hardly budged, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan flat while Japan's Nikkei ticked up 0.2 percent.