Stocks in Asia were lower in Tuesday morning trade on the back of fresh concerns over a slowing Chinese economy and renewed tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.51 percent in early trade while the Topix index shed 0.3 percent, with shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group declining more than 0.6 percent. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.19 percent as industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics’ stock shed more than 0.2 percent.
The ASX 200 slipped 0.6 percent, with most sectors seeing losses. The heavily weighted financial subindex declined 1.59 percent as shares of Australia’s Big Four banks saw losses. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group fell 2.2 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 1.48 percent, Westpac shed 2.05 percent while National Australia Bank declined 1.88 percent.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed filed criminal charges on Monday to officially request the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
The Justice Department also announced charges Monday against Huawei for allegedly stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile. The charges stem from a civil trade secrets lawsuit filed by T-Mobile in 2014 over a robot called “Tappy,” which was used in testing smartphones.
“Huawei and its senior executives repeatedly refused to respect U.S. law,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray, in Monday’s press conference. “Huawei … systematically sought to steal valuable trade secrets.”
Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei’s founder and president Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on Dec. 1 in Vancouver. Her arrest sparked a series of tense exchanges between China and Canada over the possibility that she could be transferred to the U.S.
The latest development came as China is attempting to strike a deal with the U.S., with the two economic powerhouses locked in an ongoing trade war. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is set to visit Washington later this week for a new round of high level trade negotiations.
In overnight market action on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 208.98 points to close at 24,528.22 while the S&P 500 slipped 0.8 percent to finish its trading day at 2,643.85. The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1 percent to close at 7,085.68.
The losses stateside were led by weak guidance from Caterpillar and Nvidia, which stoked fears about the Chinese economy slowing even as Beijing has been seeking to stimulate an economy which has shown signs of slowing growth.
Caterpillar, considered a bellwether for global trade given the company’s exposure to overseas markets, cited lower demand in China for its decline in sales in the Asia/Pacific region.
Chipmaker Nvidia, meanwhile, said “deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, particularly in China,” impacted demand for its graphics processing units.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.746 after seeing highs above 95.9 yesterday.
The Japanese yen, a safe-haven currency, traded at 109.29 against the dollar after touching lows around 109.5 yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7165 after seeing highs around the $0.72 handle in the previous session.
— CNBC’s Kate Fazzini and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
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