Asian Markets Fall In the Wake of More Trade War Jitters

Investing.com - Asian markets were mostly lower in morning trade on Monday as Beijing released a white paper on the weekend and blamed the U.S. for escalating the trade war.

The Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component declined 0.7% and 0.6% respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.6%.

Over the weekend, China issued a white paper that claimed the U.S. is an untrustworthy negotiator and blamed it for starting global trade problems.

The escalating trade war has not “made America great again” and “will only make things worse for all sides,” the paper said, as trade actions taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have done serious harm to the U.S. economy due to increased production costs.

Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said at a press conference on Sunday that the main reason trade talks stalled last month was that “the U.S. has backtracked.”

“During the consultations, China has overcome many difficulties and put forward pragmatic solutions. However, the U.S. has backtracked, and when you give them an inch, they want a yard,” Wang said.

Separately, Dai Xianglong, former governor of the People’s Bank of China, warned in a press event on Friday that the global economy would decline “if the China-U.S. trade war continues to grow larger, it may cause the global economy to decline.”

“The consequence of the China-U.S. trade war not only will be reflected in both countries, but will also extend to relevant regions, extend to the whole world.”

“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” he added.

On Sunday, China implemented previously announced tariff hikes and said it will take action against “unreliable” foreign companies, with a list of violators pending.

Although not a major directional driver, a private survey showed China’s Caixin/Markit factory Purchasing Managers’ Index for May was 50.2, slightly above the expected level of 50.

“The stronger rise in overall new business supported a renewed expansion in buying activity among Chinese manufacturing firms. Though only slight, it was the first time that purchasing activity had increased for five months,” Caixin said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.2%.

South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.7% even after data showed the country’s headline Nikkei/Markit purchasing managers' index in the manufacturing sector fell to 48.4 in May, from 50.2 in April.

The contraction was at its fastest pace in three months.

Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.9%.

Related Articles

Danske Bank to sell Estonian private loans unit to LHV in $458 million deal

Sunrise takeover of Liberty Global unit under review by competition authorities

Goldman Sachs to buy Capital Vision Services in $2.7 billion deal: WSJ