Asian stocks mostly fall on trade spat


FE Team | Published: June 26, 2018 12:33:08 | Updated: June 28, 2018 16:05:59


File Photo (Collected)

Asian shares were mostly lower on Tuesday, as moves by the US to gain an upper hand on trade with China weighed on the technology sector.

Tech stocks have been the pillar of the Wall Street's long-running bull market.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.5 per cent to 22,221.33 and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.9 per cent to 2,337.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.2 per cent to 28,619.21.

The Shanghai Composite in mainland China slipped 0.6 per cent to 2,842.22. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.4 per cent to 6,186.40.

Taiwan's benchmark fell and Southeast Asian indexes were mostly lower, reports AP.

Major US benchmarks finished broadly lower. The S&P 500 index dropped 1.4 per cent to 2,717.07. The Dow Jones industrial average fell for the ninth time in 10 days, losing 1.3 per cent to 24,252.80.

The Nasdaq composite shed 2.1 per cent to 7,532.01. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks slid 1.7 per cent to 1,657.51.

Benchmark US crude gained 7 cents to $68.15 per barrel in New York. It dipped 0.7 per cent to settle at $68.08 per barrel on Monday.

Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 5 cents to $74.60 per barrel in London.

The dollar remained at 109.45 yen from late trading Monday. The euro strengthened to $1.1718 from $1.1704.

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