By Rae Wee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asia shares eased on Wednesday, influenced by weakness in China, as investors prepare for a closely contested U.S. election that could significantly impact the world's second-largest economy, despite Beijing's efforts to boost growth.

Gold surged to an all-time high amid concerns regarding the tight U.S. presidential race, while Bitcoin neared a record high as markets weigh a potential victory by Republican candidate Donald Trump.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.22% in early trading, tracking a decline in Chinese assets. The CSI300 blue-chip index dipped 0.16%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index decreased by 0.64%.

These movements coincided with reports that China is contemplating approving over 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) in extra debt in the coming years to revitalize its fragile economy.

"China's latest stimulus package appears underwhelming, with 60% allocated to local government debt relief," stated Saxo's chief investment strategist Charu Chanana. "While there's a stronger focus on supporting the property sector, urgency around broader structural issues—such as debt, deflation, and demographics—remains limited."

"Equity support could offer some lift to domestic confidence, but foreign investors are still highly concerned about potential tariff threats if next week's U.S. elections result in a Republican sweep."

China's new energy vehicles index saw a slight increase of 0.2%, largely unaffected by news of the European Union increasing tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles to as high as 45.3%.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures rose slightly, buoyed by a strong quarterly revenue report from Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), which surpassed estimates.

Nasdaq futures gained 0.42%, while S&P 500 futures increased by 0.36%. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are set to report their earnings later today, followed by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) on Thursday.

Investors are keenly watching these results to see if Wall Street can maintain the optimism surrounding technology and artificial intelligence that has driven indexes to record highs this year.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei index rose nearly 1%, benefiting from a weaker yen.

U.S. Focus

Bitcoin hovered near its peak of $73,803.25, recently priced at $72,322.08, on track for a 13% increase this month. The leading cryptocurrency has gained momentum amid the increasing likelihood of Trump's return to the White House, as he is viewed as more favorable towards digital assets.

"Bitcoin's strength should persist if the odds for a Republican sweep continue to grow, as a less likely Democratic sweep might meet with a generalised sell-off," explained Manuel Villegas, digital assets analyst at Julius Baer.

On the economic front, investors brace for a series of U.S. data releases this week that could impact the Fed's policy outlook. The ADP National Employment Report is due later in the day along with preliminary third quarter GDP estimates, preceding Friday's nonfarm payrolls data.

Tuesday's data indicated a drop in U.S. job openings to a more than three-and-a-half-year low in September, although a separate survey showed an increase in consumer confidence to a nine-month high in October amid improved labor market perceptions.

"The U.S. data is still important for this week, there’s no doubt about it," noted Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ. "We saw the JOLTS data out last night, indicating continued labor market moderation. Today's ADP, Q3 GDP, and PCE deflator will be significant ahead of payrolls on Friday. This data will be crucial for long-end yields and the dollar's impact."

The dollar held near a three-month high against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, although a pause in its recent rally allowed the sterling to find some respite above the $1.30 level. The yen lingered near a three-month low, facing pressure from the ruling coalition's loss of a parliamentary majority during the weekend elections. The Australian dollar remained mostly unchanged post domestic inflation data, rising 0.15% to $0.6570.

In commodities, Brent crude futures increased by 0.42% to $71.42 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by 0.45% to $67.51 per barrel. Spot gold was last up by 0.18% at $2,779.81 an ounce, after peaking at $2,781.69 earlier in the session.