Asian stocks mostly negative amid growing trade tension
|- Risk-off remains in play amid sluggish data, challenges to global trade and geopolitical worries.
- Sovereign bonds flash recession fears with an extended downturn.
Asian stocks aptly portrayed gloomy market sentiment after the US President Donald Trump added Mexico in the list to bear the burden of trade protectionism.
In addition to 5% tariff hikes on Mexican goods, which can rise to 25% till October, news that China’s Huawei repatriated the US workers and geopolitical tension between Iran and Iraq also damaged global risk tone.
However, the latest news that the US-China leaders are to meet at the sidelines of G20 meeting in late-June month offered a halt in the rush to risk-safety.
Adding to the woes was China’s disappointing PMI data wherein manufacturing gauge slipped into contraction region.
Pessimism surrounding global trade and geopolitical tension triggered recession fears that stretched the global risk barometer 10-year US treasury yield further down towards September 2017 low by losing more than 5 pips to 2.173% while writing.
Wall Street registered pullbacks in headline indices during final hour trading while MSCI’s Asia index ex-Japan bucked the trend with near 0.3% gains.
Japan’s Nikkei slipped more than 1.3% whereas China’s Hang Seng lost around 0.2%. Further, Australia’s ASX remains mostly unchanged in expectations of further easing from its largest customer while New Zealand’s NZX50 is gaining +0.5% by the press time. Additionally, India’s BSE Sensex was also among the gainers with +0.60% in the pocket due to domestic positives.
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers.