Asia report: Markets lower as White House tariff talk heats up
Markets in Asia finished lower on Thursday, taking their lead from a mixed finish on Wall Street overnight as concerns about a trans-Pacific trade war stepped up a notch.
AUD/USD
$0.6533
23:03 26/04/24
GBP/NZD
NZD2.1025
23:53 26/04/24
Hang Seng
17,651.15
10:20 26/04/24
Nikkei 225
37,934.76
09:44 26/04/24
USD/JPY
¥158.3270
01:54 27/04/24
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.03% at 22,512.53, as the yen strengthened 0.3% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 111.39.
The broader Topix was down 1% in Tokyo to 1,752.09.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite slid 2.03% to 2,767.23, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite lost 2.4% to 1,512.04.
Trade concerns around China fired up once again, after reports earlier in the week that Washington was looking at implementing a 25% punitive tariff on $200bn of goods imported from the People’s Republic.
That would be a major jump from the 10% tariff already put in place.
“This comes after China said that blackmail will not work on them and that they would retaliate against the US if additional trade measures are imposed,” noted ANZ Research’s Daniel Hynes earlier in the day.
South Korea’s Kospi was 1.6% lower at 2,270.20, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was off 2.21% at 27,714.56.
Investor attention was also turned across the Pacific earlier in the session, after the US Federal Reserve ended its two-day meeting by standing pat on interest rates, as was widely expected.
The central bank did make a change, however, upgrading its outlook on the economy to describe it as “strong”.
Oil prices were lower, with Brent crude last down 0.6% to $71.96 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate falling 0.64% to $67.23.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended the session 0.55% lower at 6,240.90, with the materials subindex dropping 2.17%, and the hefty financials sector off 0.25%.
The major miners were all in the red in Sydney, with BHP down 3.31%, Fortescue Metals off 1.84% and Rio Tinto sliding 4.9%.
A fall came for the latter after Rio Tinto missed analyst forecasts with its first half profit report on Wednesday, even though it was still up 12% year-on-year.
The mining giant also said it would buy back another $1bn of shares by the end of February next year.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was 0.1% lower at 8,849.16, led lower by manuka honey grower and exporter Comvita, which lost 2.3%.
Both of the down under dollars were weaker on the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.46% at AUD 1.3568, and the Kiwi retreating 0.52% to NZD 1.4802.