By YURI KAGEYAMA
TOKYO; 31 Aug 2018; (AP) — Global shares mostly fell Friday following a report that the Trump administration could put tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods as early as next week.
KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 fell 0.5 percent in early trading to 5,451.68. Germany’s DAX lost 0.7 percent to 12,404.10. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 percent to 7,496.35. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1 percent at 25,993. S&P 500 futures were also 0.1 percent lower at 2,898.70.
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped earlier losses to finish virtually unchanged at 22,865.15. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5 percent to 6,319.50. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.7 percent to 2,322.88. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.1 percent at 27,858.64, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.5 percent to 2,725.25.
TRADE WORRIES: Worries about recent trans-Pacific trade fiction have hurt Asian markets. Bloomberg News said the U.S. government was getting ready to ramp up its trade dispute with China. It has been threatening to tax $200 billion in Chinese products for several months, which would represent a major escalation in the trade fight. The report sent shares falling on Wall Street.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “It is undoubtedly a morning of decline for Asia markets following the setback seen overnight on Wall Street from the bout of political tensions,” said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 12 cent to $70.13 a barrel. It gained 1.4 percent to $70.25 in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, dipped 25 cents to $77.77 a barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 110.75 yen from 111.58 yen. The euro fell to $1.1685 from $1.1688.
