TOKYO (AP) – Global shares were trading mixed yesterday as markets mulled the impact of tariffs being imposed by the United States (US) and China.
France’s CAC 40 shed 0.3 per cent in early trading to 7,881.94, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.5 per cent to 7,881.94. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.2 per cent to 8,558.31. US shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures falling nearly 0.2 per cent to 44,620.00. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.5 per cent to 6,034.25.
Earlier in the global day in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped earlier losses and was little changed, finishing up less than 0.1 per cent at 38,831.48.
Among Japanese issues, the stock price of Honda Motor Co shot up 8.2 per cent after Japanese media reports said its talks to set up a joint holding company with rival Nissan Motor Corp were unravelling. Nissan stock tumbled 4.9 per cent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 per cent to 8,416.90. The Hang Seng dropped 0.9 per cent to 20,597.09, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.7 per cent to 3,229.49.
South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.1 per cent to 2,509.27, as investors found bargains after the recent price dips and found optimism from the overnight Wall Street rally.
Some analysts see tariffs on China as separate from Trump’s moves against other trading partners. Trump may be more likely to keep tariffs on China longer, as he did in his first presidential term, to separate the US more.
Trump is pressing ahead with a 10-per-cent tariff on US companies importing things from China. And China also announced its own tariffs on some US products and an antitrust investigation into Google.
China’s 15 per cent tariff on US coal and liquefied natural gas products, as well as a 10-per-cent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the US won’t take effect until Monday. That leaves time for negotiations between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Trade tensions haven’t exploded yet, but they’re simmering dangerously close to a full boil, and anyone brushing them off does so at their own risk,” said managing partner at SPI Asset Management Stephen Innes.
Trump agreed to delay his taxes on US imports of Canadian and Mexican products for a month. Some traders hope Trump would likely be turned off by the damage Wall Street would take if a worst-case, long-term trade war were to occur. Trump has pointed in the past to the stock market as a real-time measure of his performance.
But a trade war is still possible, and some analysts said more swings may be coming because Trump’s threats should be taken seriously.
