Asian markets fell in early trading Thursday, following losses on Wall Street triggered by fresh worries about an economic slowdown.
U.S. stocks are off to their worst start to a quarter since 2008, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -1.86%
has lost more than 800 points in the past two days. Data showing slower job creation and weaker manufacturing output are indicating that the Trump administration’s trade war is taking a toll on the U.S. economy.
Global markets were further uneased after the U.S. announced late Wednesday that it planned to slap tariffs as high as 25% on $7.5 billion of European imports, after the WTO ruled the EU improperly favored Airbus over Boeing in a long-running trans-Atlantic dispute.
“The dreary economic data does perhaps suggest that traders could be better sellers in this risk-toxic environment,” Stephen Innes, Asia-Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note.
Japan’s Nikkei
NIK, -2.02%
dropped 2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HSI, -0.62%
slipped 0.6%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
XJO, -2.09%
fell 1.9% and New Zealand’s NZX 50
NZ50GR, -1.07%
slid 1.2%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan
Y9999, -0.77%
, Singapore
STI, -0.85%
, Malaysia
FBMKLCI, -0.51%
and Indonesia
JAKIDX, -0.25%
all declined. Markets in mainland China and South Korea were closed for holidays.
Among individual stocks, SoftBank
9984, -2.31%
, Fast Retailing
9983, -2.82%
, Toyota
7203, -2.57%
and Honda
7267, -2.45%
all sank in Tokyo trading. Casino operator Galaxy Entertainment
27, +1.95%
rose in Hog Kong, while Wharf Real Estate
1997, -1.83%
and CNOOC
883, -1.52%
declined. In Australia, Beach Energy
BPT, -1.83%
, BHP
BHP, -2.93%
and Westpac Banking
WBC, -2.29%
all fell.
Source : MTV