The Asian and Pacific Rim financial equity markets are starting the week off mixed as traders worry about political tensions between China and the United States.
Economic data out of Japan also showed their economy contracting at a record pace as the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is taking its toll.
The financial and equity markets are closed on Monday in South Korea for a public holiday making volume in the Asian region a bit lighter than usual.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was down roughly three quarters of a percent by the midmorning. The broader Topix index was last trading down about 0.48 percent.
Elsewhere in the Asian and Pacific Rim, the Australian S&P ASX 200 was down 0.98 percent and shares on the Hang Sen index, in Hong Kong, were last trading up 1.1 percent.
On the mainland in China, the headline bourses were trading slightly higher. The Shanghai composite was trading 0.8 percent higher and the Shenzhen component was up 0.63 percent.
Asian Traders React to Japan’s Economy Shrinking
Economic data released out of Japan showed that their second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 27.8 percent.
This is the largest quarterly contraction on record and worse than the preliminary second-quarter gross domestic product contraction of 27.2 percent. The financial markets had expected a contraction of 27.2 percent, as well.
Political Tension between China and the United States Increase
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order, at the end of last week, forcing China’s ByteDance to sell its American based TikTok business within 90 days. They can also spin it off.
President Trump said that there is “credible evidence” that BytDance “might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”
Also making headlines, the scheduled trade deal review between the two economic powerhouses that was scheduled for Saturday has been delayed. There is no new date set for the review.