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Asian Markets Suffer Steep Losses Amid Escalating US-China Trade War

VOA News

   Updated at 5:16 AM

   The escalating trade tensions between the United States and China that
   sent U.S. stock prices plunging Monday continued to reverberate around
   the globe as Asian stock prices sustained huge losses Tuesday.
   Japan's benchmark Nikkei index lost nearly 135 points to close out the
   day's trading session, while China's Shanghai index dropped nearly 40
   points, a loss of just over one percent. Australia's index fell 162
   points, well over two percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down
   more than one-half of one percent in late trading.
   The outlook was far less dire later in the day as European markets
   began their trading day. London's FTSE index lost just three-tenths of
   a percent at the opening bell, while the markets in Paris and Frankfurt
   opened slightly higher.

   Tuesday's sell-offs in Asia came hours after Wall Street posted its
   worst losses of the year, with the S&P 500 index losing three percent
   on Monday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 3.5 percent and Dow
   Jones losing nearly three percent. The selloff was triggered by
   Beijing's decision to allow its currency to fall to weaken to its
   lowest point in 11 years, triggering an angry response by U.S.
   President Donald Trump on Twitter, accusing China of manipulating its
   currency.

   China's move to devalue its currency gives its exporters a price edge
   in world markets.

   Hours later, the U.S. Treasury Department officially designated China a
   currency manipulator.

   The months-long trade war between the world's two biggest economies
   worsened last week when President Trump announced plans to impose a 10
   percent increase of tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. worth $300
   billion. China has retaliated by ending all new purchases of
   agricultural products from the United States.

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