Asian stock markets were mixed in early trading Tuesday, amid reports that the Trump administration will extend a temporary reprieve for an export ban to China’s Huawei Technologies Co.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the U.S. will soon announce a handful of U.S. companies may receive 90-day exemptions to the technology export ban announced last week. That could give some breathing room to Huawei and other companies, and serve as a potential bargaining chip assuming trade talks with China are resumed.
On Tuesday, Huawei’s founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said in an interview that the potential reprieve is meaningless because the Chinese tech giant has already prepared for the worst, and has stockpiled chips. He also said U.S. export restrictions won’t hinder its development of 5G technology, and that within a few years Huawei’s 5G tech would be superior to that of every other company.
Tech stocks fell on Wall Street over concerns about how the Huawei ban will affect U.S. companies, and potential retaliation by China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell 84.10 points, or 0.3%, to 25,679.90, the S&P 500 index
declined 19.30 points, or 0.7%, to 2,840.23, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index
dropped 113.91 points, or 1.5%, to 7,702.38.
On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei
fell 0.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
was last about flat after making up early losses. The Shanghai Composite
gained 1% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite
rose 1.3%. South Korea’s Kospi
advanced 0.7%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan
, Singapore
and Indonesia
were mixed, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
declined 0.3%.
Among individual stocks, Nikon
and SoftBank Group
gained in Tokyo trading, while Sony
and shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines
fell. In Hong Kong, AAC
and Bank of China
rose while Sino Biopharmaceutical
and casino operator Galaxy Entertainment
dropped. Samsung
, which could benefit if Huawei’s supply of U.S. chips is cut off, surged in South Korea. Taiwan Semiconductor
fell in Taiwan. In Australia, BHP
and Beach Energy
declined, while Westpac Banking
rose.
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