Thursday, 12 July 2018
- Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday amid elevated trade tensions between the U.S. and its trading partners.
- The Trump administration unveiled a list of possible tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese products earlier in the week.
- Global markets had slid following that latest salvo in the U.S.-China trade dispute.
- Oil prices edged higher after its overnight slump.
Asian stocks traded mostly higher on Thursday, with markets shaking off some of the trade jitters seen overnight after the Trump administration announced a list of Chinese goods that may be subject to new tariffs.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.77 percent in Tokyo morning trade, the Kospi was little changed, trading lower by 0.02 percent, the S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 0.31 percent in Sydney.
Those moves came after the Trump administration on Tuesday unveiled a list of 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese products. The duties will take effect only after a review process is completed. In response, China threatened to retaliate with “qualitative measures,” This latest salvo also came just days after tariffs from the U.S. and China on $34 billion in products from each country took effect on Friday.
Global stock markets declined in the last session on the back of the latest developments in the ongoing trade dispute, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average declining 0.88 percent, or 219.21 points, to close at 24,700.45.
European and Asian equities slumped on Wednesday on the back of the latest ramp up in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which investors fear could negatively affect global growth. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down 1.2 percent while China markets led the declines in Asia, with the Shanghai composite dropping 1.78 percent.
The dollar was steady after firming overnight amid the jitters, with the dollar index last at 94.710. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the Yuan reference rate at 6.6723 vs the previous day’s fix of 6.6234.
The oil prices retraced some of their steep losses made overnight on the back of trade worries and supply concerns following news that Libya would be resuming exports. Brent crude futures were higher by 0.86 percent at $74.03 per barrel after settling 6.9 percent lower on Wednesday, the largest drop in one day since 2016. U.S. crude futures tacked on 0.26 percent to trade at $70.57.
Source : Reuters
