Asian markets tumbled Friday on fears that the U.S. and China may not be as close to a trade deal as President Donald Trump had suggested. Selling was also fueled by worries about the global economy after alarming Chinese trade data.
China’s General Administration of Customs reported that exports fell 20.7% in February, compared to the prior year, reflecting weaker demand. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the value of overseas shipments to drop by only 6%.
The Shanghai Composite index SHCOMP, -3.53% gave up 3%, while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, -2.30% dropped 1.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, -1.61% lost 1.5%.
The Kospi SEU, -1.26% in South Korea fell 1.2% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.96% eased 0.9%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 NIK, -2.07% was 2% lower, even after the government said its economy grew 1.9% in 2018’s fourth quarter from a year ago. This was better than its initial estimate of 1.4%. Stocks fell in Taiwan Y9999, -0.68% and throughout Southeast Asia.
Among individual stocks, Fast Retailing 9983, -2.32% , Nintendo 7974, -3.00% and Sony 6758, -3.08% fell in Tokyo trading. Hyundai Motor 005380, -4.38% and SK Hynix 000660, -2.06% slumped in Korea, while Taiwan Semiconductor 2330, -1.71% dropped in Taiwan. Geely Automotive 0175, -2.74% , China Life Insurance 2628, -3.50% and Tencent 0700, -2.14% were among the biggest decliners in Hong Kong. Oil Search OSH, -2.18% and Rio Tinto RIO, -1.58% fell in Australia.
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the U.S. and China have come to a broad agreement that would result in the removal of some tariffs in both countries. This involves China buying more American goods and opening some of its markets further to foreign companies, it said.
But the report said negotiators haven’t locked down key details, like when the tariffs will be removed and how to ensure China holds up its end of the deal. It added, citing two people familiar with Beijing’s position, that Chinese officials were wary about the final terms due to Trump’s bent for last minute-changes.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that the negotiations were “moving along very nicely.” Last week, the U.S. shelved a tariff hike on $200 billion in Chinese goods to give officials time to work out a deal.
Investors were also focused on the global economy. The European Central Bank delayed its next interest rate hike and announced a new round of cheap loans for banks on Thursday. This was seen as an acknowledgement of weaker growth by the bank.
“The series of aggravating factors for growth concerns continues to gather, the latest from the eurozone, setting Asia markets up for synchronized decline into the end of the week,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.
Over on Wall Street, the broad S&P 500 index SPX, -0.81% suffered its fourth straight loss on Thursday, falling 0.8% to 2,748.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.78% declined 0.8% to 25,473.23 and the Nasdaq composite COMP, -1.13% shed 1.1% to 7,421.46.
U.S. crude CLJ9, -0.62% lost 36 cents to $56.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It picked up 44 cents to $56.66 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude LCOK9, -0.69% , used to price international oils fell 46 cents to $65.84 a barrel in London. The contract rose 31 cents to settle at $66.30 per barrel on Thursday.
The dollar USDJPY, -0.48% retreated to 111.06 yen from 111.57 yen late Thursday.
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