Asian Stock Market Falls on Trade Spat
Asian stock markets traded in red territory, as renewed concerns over trade disputes put the overall market in a gloomy mood.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4%, following the S&P ASX 200’s 2.2% stumble to post its weakest day in two months.
The index was last trading 0.4% lower to $522.24.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended the session with a 0.64% fall to ¥23,379.81.
Still, a few key indexes were able to regain some of their losses.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.39% to CN¥3,851.09, having dropped 0.62% earlier in the day.
The Shanghai Composite also slipped to hit its lowest point since August 26, before recovering 0.31% to CN¥2,884.70.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 0.20% to HK$26,391.30, having shed as much as 1.44% earlier in the session.
Fears over Trade Disputes Send Asian Stock Market Down
Markets turned dull after Washington’s and US President Donald Trump’s announcement facilitated a selling pressure.
The US has warned to levy retaliatory duties of up to 100% on $2.4 billion French goods, as they find France’s new digital services tax to be damaging on US tech firms.
France had stated that it would respond strongly to tariffs on imports including Champagne, handbags, and cheese.
While the overall Asian stock market’s behavior acted dismally, European equities showed a mixed performance, following the news.
A pan-European stock index was up 0.3%, having lost 1.6% the previous day to mark as its biggest one-day fall in two months.
France’s CAC 40 shed 0.69% to €5,746.61.
On the other hand, Germany’s trade-sensitive DAX 30 index climbed 0.32% to € 13,005.87.
Trump has also shown he is ready to open new trade fronts. He did this by warning to reimpose tariffs on Brazil’s and Argentina’s metal products, despite the economic slowdown taking place across the world.
The US President said the proposed duties on the two countries’ steel and aluminum imports is intended to counter what he called a massive devaluation of their currencies.
