Asian shares fall lower; Mixed trading on Wall St

Bangkok: Shares sagged Tuesday in Asia as worries over US-China trade friction weighed on the outlook for the region. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.4 per cent to 38,237.79 after markets in Japan reopened from a holiday on Monday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 1.5 per cent to 22,999.44, while the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.8 per cent to 3,346.04. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7 per cent to 8,251.90. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.7 per cent to 2,630.29 after the Bank of Korea cut its benchmark interest rate to 2.75 per cent from 3 per cent, its third cut in four meetings as it moves to support the slowing economy. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.2 per cent and the Sensex in India gained 0.3 per cent. German stocks ticked higher, and the DAX advanced 0.6 per cent after political conservatives won an election dominated by concerns about Europe’s largest economy.

Trump said Monday that tariff hikes on imports from America’s neighbours Canada and Mexico will move ahead after a one-month delay. The president has openly antagonised multiple US trading partners recently, threatening to raise tariffs and inviting them to retaliate with import taxes of their own that could send the economy hurtling into a trade war. Trump has put an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports due to that country’s role in the production of the opioid fentanyl. Major companies have warned about uncertainty over US trade policies, while the University of Michigan’s latest consumer sentiment index plunged by roughly 10 per cent over the past month in part due to fears about tariffs and inflation worsening.

On Monday, US stocks drifted lower, compounding their sharp losses from last week.