Asian stocks dragged lower by 2% drop in Hang Seng
- Asian shares extend pullback from multi-month high as risk aversion rule trade sentiment.
- The renewed protests in Hong Kong, the Iran-Iraq drama keep traders off from riskier assets.
- The US-China trade story continues flashing mixed signals.
Although strong Chinese buying on Alibaba’s Singles’ Day shopping festival should have pleased Asian share buyers, the trading sentiment is otherwise amid an overall rush to risk-safety ahead of the European session opening on Monday.
Uncertainty surrounding the trade deal between the United States (US) and China, considering the US-side step back from tariff reversal, triggered the initial risk-off which got an additional boost from the news of increased protests in Hong Kong. The risk-tone was further diluted with the US urging Iraq to end violence and call early elections.
On the economic front, Japan’s Machinery Orders and New Zealand’s Electronic Card Retail Sales slipped below forecast in September and October respectively.
With this, the MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan declines more than 1.2% by the press time while Japan’s NIKKEI is 0.24% in red. Further, Hong Kong’s HANG SENG leads the Asian share losers with more than 2.0% off the Friday’s close while Chinese indices were also more than 1% down considering the trade tussle with the US.
Even so, shares in Australia and New Zealand bucked the trend with minor gains while Indian markets are off for Guru Nanak Birthday. It’s worth mentioning that bourses in the US and Canada are also closed while data from the United Kingdom (UK) seems to decorate the economic calendar.
Author
Anil Panchal
FXStreet
Anil Panchal has nearly 15 years of experience in tracking financial markets. With a keen interest in macroeconomics, Anil aptly tracks global news/updates and stays well-informed about the global financial moves and their implications.
