HONG KONG: Fresh fears of a trade war between the world’s top two economies sent Asia markets tumbling on Monday after the United States and China imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars of imports.
Energy firms were among the biggest losers as oil prices plunged ahead of a key OPEC meeting, where Saudi Arabia and Russia are expected to lift a two-year-old production cap. Donald Trump’s decision to hit China with 25 per cent levies was met with an immediate retaliation, moving the two closer to a trade war that could potentially batter the global economy. The announcement came despite weeks of talks between the two sides.
The developments sent stocks into the red across Europe and on Wall Street, and Asian investors followed suit on Monday. Tokyo ended the morning session 0.8 per cent down, while Singapore sank more than one per cent, Seoul dropped 0.7 per cent and Sydney shed 0.1 per cent. Manila dived more than two per cent, while Wellington was 0.1 per cent off. Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for public holidays.
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