Asian markets were mostly lower in early trading Monday, as global trade tensions showed no signs of easing.
On Sunday, the White House said President Donald Trump was “deadly serious” about imposing punitive tariffs against all imports from Mexico unless the stream of migrants crossing the border was significantly slowed. Meanwhile, China blamed the U.S. for the breakdown in trade talks, and said it won’t back down, although it left the door open for further negotiations with the U.S.
On Monday, the private Caixin gauge found China’s factory activity was flat in May, though still in expansion territory, contrary to previous data that indicated cooling manufacturing activity.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2%
and the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
retreated 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite
slipped 0.7% while South Korea’s Kospi
rose 0.6%. Benchmark indexes were down in Taiwan
and Singapore
, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
fell 0.9%.
Among individual stocks, SoftBank Group
fell in Tokyo trading after the Wall Street Journal reported money managers have been cool to its bid to start a new $100 mega fund. Nippon Steel
and Toyota
also dropped. In Hong Kong, China Mobile
gained while casino operator Sands China
and property developer Country Garden
slipped. Samsung
and LG Electronics
surged in South Korea. In Australia, BHP
, Rio Tinto
and Beach Energy
fell.
