Asian stocks slip on US-China trade tensions


FE Team | Published: April 03, 2018 11:56:33 | Updated: April 05, 2018 11:16:42


File Photo (Collected)

Asian shares slipped for a second day Tuesday amid jitters about US-Chinese trade tensions and mounting public scrutiny of technology companies.

Most of the Asian markets declined. The dollar temporarily dipped against the Japanese yen rose as currency traders looked for a safe haven but rebounded later.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9 per cent to 3,134.88 and Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 0.5 per cent to 21,279.77. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.6 per cent to 29,913.68, reports AP.

Elsewhere, Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 gained 3 points to 5,762.00. Seoul's Kospi retreated 0.6 per cent to 2,430.01 while India's Sensex edged down 13 points to 33,246.02.

Benchmarks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia also declined.

The dollar dipped in early trading but rebounded to 105.96 yen from Monday's 105.89 yen.

Benchmark US crude gained 13 cents to $63.14 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $1.93 on Monday to close at $63.01.

Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 17 cents to $67.81 in London. It tumbled $1.70 to $67.64 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks sank as worry about trade tensions compounded by heightened public scrutiny of tech companies in the United States and Europe.

That deflated some previously high-fliers including Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.9 per cent to 23,644.19. The S&P 500 index gave up 2.2 per cent, to 2,581.88. The Nasdaq composite slumped 2.7 per cent to 6,870.12.

Amazon fell 5.2 per cent following broadsides from Trump on Twitter. Facebook tumbled as a widening privacy scandal weighed on its stock.

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