•Markets in Europe traded lower Monday morning, with investors continuing to monitor trade developments between the U.S. and China.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was down by around 0.5% after the bell. Food and beverages were the strongest sector, while autos took an early hit, losing more than 1.5% in early trade.
•U.S. stock futures and Asian shares fell on Monday on growing anxiety over whether the United States and China will be able to salvage a trade deal, after Washington sharply hiked tariffs and Beijing vowed to retaliate.
The United States and China appeared at a deadlock over trade negotiations on Sunday as Washington demanded promises of concrete changes to Chinese law and Beijing said it would not swallow any “bitter fruit” that harmed its interests.
Investors are bracing for threatened “counter-measures” from China in retaliation for Washington’s tariff increase on Friday on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The move followed accusations by U.S. President Donald Trump that Beijing “broke the deal” by reneging on earlier commitments.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.7%, nearing its two-month low marked on Thursday.
•Japan’s Nikkei dropped on Monday as most cyclical sectors lost ground after the trade war between the United States and China escalated, while a fall in U.S. futures hurt sentiment.
The Nikkei share average ended 0.7% lower at 21,191.28, the lowest closing since March 28. The broader Topix shed 0.5% to 1,541.14.
“Trade talks will continue, as there’s a summit in Osaka, so it’s too early to price in the real impact to the economy in the market yet,” said Shoji Hirakawa, a chief strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Center.
•China’s main equity indexes finished lower on Monday and the yuan weakened to a four-month low as investors’ hopes for a deal to end an escalating trade war between the United States and China were dashed by signs of a stalemate in trade negotiations.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended the day down 1.2% and the blue-chip CSI300 index lost 1.7%, resuming the previous week’s downward slide.
For the month, the Shanghai Composite is down 5.7%, while the CSI300 has lost 6.2%.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, BBC
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