Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
Shares in the Asian and Pacific Rim were trading lower by Monday afternoon. Businesses in Hong Kong are bracing for a general strike and Asian traders are nervous about renewed trade tensions between China and the United States.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 2.35 percent as it extended Friday’s losses of two percent. Shares of index heavyweight SoftBank fell over four percent. The Topix index, in Tokyo, was down 2.4 percent.
The Asian benchmark in South Korea, the Kospi composite index was down over two percent as technology and manufacturing plays sold off on Monday.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P ASX 200 was down 1.25 percent as all sub-sectors were in the red.
In China, the Shanghai composite lost half a percent and the smaller Shenzhen composite was down a fraction.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down 2.9 percent, after lunchtime as protests continue and a general strike is planned to bring the city to a halt. Shares were down as much as three percent at one point.
Asian Traders watch Hong Kong Protest and Trade Tensions
In Hong Kong, the chief executive of the city, Carrie Lam said that city is on the verge “a very dangerous situation.” The protests, which started in June over a bill of extradition to China have continued and worsened. The bill has been suspended but not cancelled.
In trade war headlines, China says that they will fight back against the United States. The U.S. President, last week, abruptly announced new sanctions on remaining Chinese imports that ended a month long trade truce.
President Donald Trump broke the trade war truce when he announced further tariffs of ten percent on $300 billion of goods out of China. These tariffs will go into effect on September 1. Trump’s announcement occurred right after United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his team returned from Shanghai and trade talks.
