Asian stocks keep the red as US-China tussle continues

Asian stocks extend previous fall as the United States (US) President Donald Trump hit brakes on expectations of a phase-one deal with China during the present year. Also contributing to the trade war risk is the passage of sanctions on senior Chinese diplomats by the US House. Further, China’s warning to the Trump administration and sanctions on the US Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) keep the world’s two largest economies at loggerheads.

Elsewhere, rising odds of the US President Trump’s impeachment and the US indication to recall auto tariffs further weaken the market’s risk tone.

As a result, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan marks 0.80% loss while Japan’s NIKKEI losses more than 1.20% by the press time. Further, S&P 500 Futures stays on the back foot for the fourth consecutive day whereas Australia’s ASX 200 in 1.6% in the red after better than forecast Aussie Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers.

Moving on, India’s BSE SENSEX drops 0.30%, Chinese shares bear the burden of upbeat Caixin Services activity data while Hong Kong’s HANG SENG flashes -1.23% by the time of writing.

While most Asian equities are keeping the red, the US 10-year treasury yields recover Tuesday’s losses of more than 10 basis points (bps) by taking the rounds to 1.72%

Given the presence of Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from the Eurozone, the UK and the US, markets can also follow economic updates in addition to watching over trade/political headlines.