Asia report: Markets dip as China blames US for trade talk failure
Asian markets traded mostly lower on Monday, as investors maintained their gloomy outlook as the risks associated with US-China trade tensions showed no signs of abating.
The weekend saw the White House report that President Donald Trump was "deadly serious" about imposing punitive tariffs against all imports from Mexico unless its southern neighbour reduces the number of migrants crossing the border, while China blamed the US for the failure of trade talks between the two superpowers.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "The trade war is not cooling down; in fact, it looks like the rhetoric is heating up and further escalation seems likely. China is raising tariffs on $60bn of US goods in retaliation for tariffs, coming up with its own blacklist of foreign companies, has accused the US of resorting to ‘intimidation and coercion’, and begun an investigation into FedEx. And the Chinese defence minister says if the US wants a fight, they will ‘fight to the end’. No end in sight, and the chances of a G20 détente are slim."
Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.92% at 20,410.88 as SoftBank fell by 6.22% after the Wall Street Journal reported a lack of enthusiasm from investors in the company's bid to start a new $100bn mega fund, while Toyota and Nippon Steel also dropped.
The Japanese yen edged up 0.04% against the US dollar to JPY108.25.
On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index dropped by 0.30% to 2,890.08, while the tech-heavy Shenzhen Composite was down 1.04% at 1,515.89 by the end of trading, amid the heightened trade war concerns.
The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index inched 0.03% lower to 26,893.86 as shares of casino operator Sands China dipped by 3.38% and property developer Country Garden was down 0.94%.
The South Korean Kospi climbed by 1.28% to 2,067.85 as index bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed by 3.06% as it unveiled its new Notebook 7 and Notebook 7 Force laptops.
Brent Crude was down 1.64% at $60.99, while WTI was down 1.01% at $52.92.
Down under, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell by 1.19% to 6,320.55 as miners BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto each fell by more than 2.50% after iron ore prices fell, while energy stocks were under pressure from lower oil prices.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 was up by 0.46% at 10,117.99 by the end of the day's trade after energy company Vector and telecommunications utility Chorus recovered from recent sell-offs.
Other key risers included Auckland International Airport, up 1.7%, a 2.2% increase from Ryman Healthcare and a 1.4% rise from Metlifecare.
Finally, the Australian dollar was up 0.15% against the greenback at A$1.44, while New Zealand's dollar climbed by 0.27% to NZ$1.53.