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Asian Equities Slide; Trump

Published 23/05/2018, 02:56 pm
Updated 23/05/2018, 03:01 pm
© Reuters.  Asian stocks continued to fall in afternoon trade on Wednesday

© Reuters. Asian stocks continued to fall in afternoon trade on Wednesday

Investing.com – Asian stocks continued to fall in afternoon trade on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump said he is “not really” pleased with the results of trade talks with China so far.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration decided to put the tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods on hold. In return, China promised to “significantly” increase purchase of U.S. products and service.

China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.8% and 0.7% respectively by 1:15AM ET (05:15 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.0%.

Trump also expressed pessimism about the planned meeting with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un after his regime criticized Trump’s concept of “total denuclearization.”

“There’s a chance, a very substantial chance, it won’t work out,” Trump said during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday. “I don’t want to waste a lot of time and I’m sure he doesn’t want to waste a lot of time. So there’s a very substantial chance it won’t work out and that’s OK. That doesn’t mean it won’t work out over a period of time.”

South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.4%. A statement from the Bank of Korea showed household debt rose to a record 1,468 trillion won ($1.4 trillion) as of the end of March, up 8 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Hong Kong-based ZTE Corp (HK:0763) remained in focus as it estimated losses of at least $3.1 billion due to the ban on U.S. firms supplying the telecommunications firm. The news followed Trump's comment on Wednesday, in which he said he ordered a review of the penalty as “a favour” to Xi, but there is no deal yet with China. Instead, Trump proposed a revised penalty for ZTE that includes a requirement to appoint a new board of directors and a fine of $1.3 billion.

Meanwhile, Foxconn Industrial Internet made headlines after it announced plans to raise up to $4.3 billion in an IPO, which would mark the largest mainland Chinese debut since 2015.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.1%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2%. Oil and gas producer Santos Ltd (AX:STO) plunged after it rejected the U.S.-based Harbour Energy Ltd.’s $10.9 billion final offer to acquire the company.

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