Asian Market Review

Asian markets are trading broadly lower on Wednesday following overnight weakness that saw Wall Street snapping a three session string of gains. There were also concerns over the trade war following remarks from President Trump in which he said the trade war with China was necessary, even if it causes short term pain for the U.S. economy because China had been cheating the U.S. for decades.

Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite has fallen 0.2% at the open in response to the overnight remarks, and the smaller cap Shenzhen Composite is matching that with a drop of 0.2% as well. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng has an early loss of 0.4% as investors there also worry about the potential for more protests.

In Australia the S&P/ASX 200 is leading losses for the region as it has fallen 1.1% so far today. That comes on the heels of a 1.2% gain in the prior session where the index rose sharply in the final hours of trade in response to the prospect for monetary stimulus brought about by the latest Australian central bank monetary policy meeting minutes. The big four banks are leading losses today as they trade down by 0.5% to 1.5%.

Japan’s Nikkei has slipped 0.7% lower, with Sony losing 0.5% and Softbank down by 0.4%. In South Korea the Kospi holds onto a slim gain of 0.05%, while the Taiex in Taiwan is trading 0.2% lower today.

Southeast Asian markets are falling as well, with both the Straits Times in Singapore and the KLCI in Malaysia trading lower by 0.3%.