Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
Asian markets fell this morning. Traders are digesting heightened trade tensions between China and the United States. Both countries announced a new round of tariffs on Friday. Also financial markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia were closed for public holidays.
The Asian benchmark in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell this morning. Shares lost 0.85 percent. All sectors lost ground. Shipping companies led losses. The Topix sea transport sub index shed 3.46 percent. Steelmakers were also down. They lost 2.18 percent. Oil plays also sold off. They lost 3.32 percent as oil prices extended losses.
South Korean markets were also down this morning. The benchmark Kospi composite index lost 0.8 percent. The Kosdaq shed 2.22 percent. Automakers were up this morning. Shares of Hyundai Motor rose 0.75 percent. Large cap technology plays were lower. Samsung Electronics was down 2.1 percent.
Elsewhere in the Asian and Pacific Rim, in Australia, the S&P ASX 200 was flat. The benchmark was down 0.09 percent. There were losses in the materials sub index. Major miners Rio Tinto and BHP both fell over two percent. The major banks were up moderately.
Other regional markets were also under pressure. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down. Shares fell 1.19 percent. Malaysian stocks lost nearly one percent.
Asian Traders React to Trade War News between China and the United States
As reported in our gold article, President Donald Trump, on Friday, said slap big tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods. This has escalated the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. China vowed to respond in kind with its own tariff.
China initiate tariffs on U.S. goods with 25 percent taxes on 659 U.S. products. These goods are valued at $50 billion. This is its response to the American announcement of tariffs on Chinese imports. These were comments from the Chinese commerce ministry.
