Asian markets mixed with eyes on China-US tensions, stimulus
Hong Kong added one percent and Shanghai rose even more
HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian markets were mixed in early trade Monday as investors weighed ongoing China-US tensions and Washington lawmakers’ struggle to hammer out a much-needed new stimulus.
Analysts said there was little reaction to news that trade review talks between the superpowers due to have taken place Saturday had been postponed, though Donald Trump kept up his drumbeat against Beijing, warning he could target more Chinese tech firms including Alibaba.
The president’s warning came as he issued another executive order stating internet giant ByteDance must sell its interest in the Musical.ly app it bought and merged with TikTok. The move follows an order last week that TikTok and WeChat end all operations in the US.
While the measure did not cause a market sell-off, there are worries about how much Trump will ratchet up tensions with Beijing as he struggles to retain the White House in November, with opinion polls showing him trailing Joe Biden in key battlegrounds.
Meanwhile, high-level talks between the two on their "phase one" trade agreement were called off, though observers said the decision was down to scheduling issues and that there was no concern for now about the future of the agreement, with both sides last week saying it would stay in place.
"For now there is no sign the trade deal is in jeopardy, with the review’s postponement seen as an allowance for China to increase its purchase of US agricultural goods, which are way behind schedule" owing to the impact of the virus on trade, said National Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril.
Hong Kong added one percent and Shanghai rose even more, with mainland stocks helped by a massive cash injection into financial markets by the Chinese central bank.
Taipei was also up more than one percent and Singapore 0.5 percent, while Wellington piled on 1.5 percent after the government delayed New Zealand’s general election by four weeks to October 17 owing to a spike in new virus infections.
