Asian markets decline on trade-deal concerns, weak China export data
Asian markets tumbled Friday with fears that the US and China may not be as close to a trade deal as proposed by President Donald Trump. Sales were also driven by worries for the world economy for alarming Chinese trading data.
China's General Administration of Customs reported that exports fell 20.7% in February compared to the previous year, reflecting weaker demand. Economists asked by The Wall Street Journal expected the value of foreign shipments to fall by only 6%.
Shanghai Composite Index
SHCOMP, -4.40%
tumbled 3.3%, logging its worst one-day percent loss for the year so far while the smaller cap Shenzhen Composite
399106, -3.79%
fell 1.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Bed
-1.95%
lost 1.7%.
Kospi
SEU, -1.31%
in South Korea fell 1.3% and Australia's S & P / ASX 200
XJO, -0.96%, fell 0.9%.
Japanese reference Nikkei 225
NIK, -2.01%
was 2% lower, even after the government said the economy grew 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2018 from a year ago. This was better than the original estimate of 1.4%. Stocks fell in Taiwan
Y9999, -0.68%
and throughout Southeast Asia.
Among individual shares, Fast Retail
9983, -2.25%
Nintendo
7974, -2.67%
and Sony
6758, -3.17%
fell in Tokyo trading. Hyundai Motor
005380, -4.38%
and SK Hynix
000660, -2.06%
slumped in Korea, while Taiwan Semiconductor
2330, -1.71%
fell in Taiwan. Geely Automotive
0175, -3.56%
China Life Insurance
2628, -3.97%
and Tencent
0700, -2.65%
was among the largest decliners in Hong Kong. Oljesøk
OSH, -2.18%
and Rio Tinto
R10, -1.58%
fell in Australia.
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the United States and China have come to a broad agreement that would result in the removal of some tariffs in both countries. This means that China buys more US goods and opens some of its markets to foreign companies, it said.
But the report says the dealers have not locked key details, such as when tariffs will be removed and how can one ensure that China stops the end of the deal. It was added, referring to two people familiar with Beijing's position, that Chinese officials were cautious about the final terms because of Trump's bent on last minute changes.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the negotiations were "moving very well". , the United States made a $ 200 billion tariff increase in Chinese goods to allow officials time to prepare a deal.
Investors were also focused on the world economy. The European Central Bank delayed its next rise in interest rates and announced a new round of cheap loans to banks on Thursday. This was seen as a confirmation of weaker growth from the bank.
"The series of aggravating factors for growth problems continues to gather, the latest from the euro area, and that the Asia markets set up for synchronized decline to the end of the week," Jingyi Pan of the IG said in a comment.
Over on Wall Street, the broad S & P 500 index
SPX, -0.81%
suffered its fourth straight loss on Thursday, falling 0.8% to 2,748.93. Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -0.78%
fell 0.8% to 25.473.23 and the Nasdaq composite
[0145] COMP, [1.145%] throw 1.1% to 7.421.46.
U.S .. rough
CLJ9, -0.95%
lost 36 cents to $ 56.30 per barrel in electronic commerce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It took 44 cents to $ 56.66 a barrel on Thursday. Burned crude oil