AFP, Hong Kong :
Fresh fears over headwinds facing the global economy saw Asian stocks plunge into the red Friday, in light holiday trading after US markets were closed for Thanksgiving.
Chinese shares led the downward charge as Shanghai slumped by more than two percent, with the tech sector hit hard by a Wall Street Journal report that Washington is urging its allies to avoid using equipment from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.
Worsening tensions between the US and China have shattered confidence on global trading floors, and investors were sceptical of new claims from Donald Trump he was hopeful of resolving the bitter trade dispute between the two countries.
“China wants to make a deal. If we can make a deal, we will,” Trump said, ahead of crunch talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 in Argentina next week.
Beijing Friday also signalled its willingness to make progress, with vice minister of commerce Wang Shouwen telling a press briefing he hoped the two economic heavyweights could “finally find a solution to solve the problem”.
But the fractious recent APEC summit – which for the first time ever failed to issue a joint statement after US-China trade tensions boiled over –
The world’s top two economies have been locked in a trade war since the summer, with the US imposing punitive tariffs on Chinese goods worth $250 billion per year. In retaliation, China imposed tariffs on $110 billion of US goods.
Washington has threatened to toughen measures even further if the issue is not resolved before January.
“Investors are waiting for either a conclusion to the trade war or for Xi to present some meaningful stimulus,” James Soutter, head of global equities at K2 Asset Management in Melbourne, told Bloomberg News.
“Chinese companies are actually more sanguine than investors, and in many cases still seeing growth, although not at the levels of last year.”
Fresh fears over headwinds facing the global economy saw Asian stocks plunge into the red Friday, in light holiday trading after US markets were closed for Thanksgiving.
Chinese shares led the downward charge as Shanghai slumped by more than two percent, with the tech sector hit hard by a Wall Street Journal report that Washington is urging its allies to avoid using equipment from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.
Worsening tensions between the US and China have shattered confidence on global trading floors, and investors were sceptical of new claims from Donald Trump he was hopeful of resolving the bitter trade dispute between the two countries.
“China wants to make a deal. If we can make a deal, we will,” Trump said, ahead of crunch talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 in Argentina next week.
Beijing Friday also signalled its willingness to make progress, with vice minister of commerce Wang Shouwen telling a press briefing he hoped the two economic heavyweights could “finally find a solution to solve the problem”.
But the fractious recent APEC summit – which for the first time ever failed to issue a joint statement after US-China trade tensions boiled over –
The world’s top two economies have been locked in a trade war since the summer, with the US imposing punitive tariffs on Chinese goods worth $250 billion per year. In retaliation, China imposed tariffs on $110 billion of US goods.
Washington has threatened to toughen measures even further if the issue is not resolved before January.
“Investors are waiting for either a conclusion to the trade war or for Xi to present some meaningful stimulus,” James Soutter, head of global equities at K2 Asset Management in Melbourne, told Bloomberg News.
“Chinese companies are actually more sanguine than investors, and in many cases still seeing growth, although not at the levels of last year.”
