GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares drop to 3-week low, U.S. politics adds to gloom

* Trump Whistleblower report seen raising U.S. uncertainties
* U.S.-China trade talks expected in early October
* Chip-related shares take a hit after Micron's bleak
outlook
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Asian shares slipped to
three-week lows on Friday as the release of a whistleblower
complaint against U.S. President Donald Trump added to
uncertainties about the global economy, already reeling from the
China-U.S. trade war.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS slipped 0.42%, having fallen 1.72% so far this
week, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 slid 1.27%.
U.S. S&P 500 futures ESc1 fell 0.2% in Asian trading after
the index dropped 0.24% on Thursday.
A whistleblower report released on Thursday said President
Donald Trump not only abused his office in attempting to solicit
Ukraine's interference in the 2020 U.S. election for his
political benefit, but that the White House tried to "lock down"
evidence about that conduct.
The report came after the Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives Nancy Pelosi launched an impeachment inquiry
into him this week.
"The start of the impeachment inquiry adds a new element of
uncertainties to markets, in addition to ongoing concerns about
the U.S.-China trade war and the risk of a U.S. recession," said
Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ
Morgan Stanley Securities.
"While no one thinks the Senate will vote for his
impeachment given the Republican majority there, we could see
more new revelations during a long investigation process," he
added.
On trade issues, news headlines were too mixed for investors
to show a clear reaction.
CNBC reported that trade war talks were scheduled for Oct.
10-11 in Washington, citing people familiar with the
arrangements, and China's top diplomat said China was willing to
buy more U.S. products. But other media reports on Thursday that the United States
is unlikely to allow American firms to supply China's Huawei
Technologies HWT.UL undermined hopes of a complete deal
between the countries. The damage is already evident as Micron Technology Inc
MU.O , a major Huawei supplier, forecast first-quarter profit
below Wall Street targets, pushing its share prices down 7% in
after-hours trade. That in turn hit chip-related shares in Asia such as Samsung
Electronics 005930.KS , SK Hynix 000660.KS and Tokyo Electron
8035.T .
In the currency market, the euro hovered near a 2-1/2-year
low amid concerns about sluggish growth in the currency bloc,
with rising fear of recession in its biggest economy, Germany.
The euro stood at $1.0918 EUR= after earlier falling to
$1.0909, the lowest since May 12, 2017.
The gloomy outlook in Europe was in contrast to the United
States, where despite some pockets of weakness -- such as
manufacturing and consumer sentiment -- growth remained
relatively robust, with the jobless rate at the lowest in nearly
50 years.
Some market participants suspect the dollar was also helped
by continued tightness in dollar funding after U.S. short-term
borrowing costs shot up last week.
The dollar traded at 107.73 yen JPY= , after climbing to
107.96 on Thursday.
Sterling traded at $1.2330 GBP=D4 , near two-week low of
$1.2303 hit on Thursday, as investors waited for the British
parliament's next attempt to break the Brexit impasse.
The Mexican peso weakened to a 2-1/2-week low of 19.680 to
the dollar MXN= after Mexico's central bank cut its key
interest rate on Thursday, with more cuts seen on the horizon.
Oil prices fell on Friday as signs of the rapid return of
output from Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest exporter, after a
Sept. 14 attack on its production facilities reduced concerns
about potential supply disruptions.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 0.83% to $62.22 a barrel
but stayed above Wednesday's low of $61.23, while U.S. West
Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 lost 0.44% to $56.16 per
barrel, off their low of $55.41 on Thursday.