CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian markets reeled under selling pressure on Monday after U.S.-China trade tensions escalated.
Risk sentiment took a hit after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the U.S. would hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods this week, with further tariffs on $325 billion goods 'shortly'.
Following Trump's threats to slam higher tariffs, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported, citing sources that Beijing is considering canceling the 11th round of trade talks with U.S. officials later this week.
Chinese stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure as Trump's comments unsettled investors who had been anticipating a trade deal as early as this week.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index plummeted 171.87 points or 5.58 percent to 2,906.46 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 871.73 points or 2.9 percent at 29,209.82.
Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for holidays.
Australian markets hit a near two-week low before ending the session off their day's lows following Trump's 'threat' to hike tariffs and weak earnings results from banking giant Westpac.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 52.10 points or 0.82 percent at 6,283.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 57.30 points or 0.89 percent to 6,369.90.
Westpac dropped 1.2 percent after its half-year profit slumped 22 percent due to the impact of hefty customer compensation payouts in its wealth management arm. ANZ rose half a percent and NAB gained 1 percent.
Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto ended down around half a percent each while smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group declined 2.1 percent.
Energy stocks such as Santos, Oil Search and Origin Energy all fell over 1 percent as oil prices fell more than 2 percent following Trump's tariff threat against China. Beach Energy shares tumbled as much as 3.2 percent.
Retail Food Group plummeted 8.9 percent after acknowledging it extended use-by dates on food products.
New Zealand shares tumbled, with the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ending down 97.46 points or 0.97 percent at 9,960.62 after hitting a record high last week. China-related stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure, with A2 Milk Company falling 2.9 percent.
Markets elsewhere across India, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan all were moving down on renewed trade concerns.
U.S. stocks rallied on Friday as investors cheered a solid jobs report as well as surprisingly good earnings from a slew of companies.
The Dow rose 0.8 percent and the S&P 500 gained 1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.6 percent to reach a fresh record closing high.
The Labor Department's report showed that non-farm payroll employment surged up by 263,000 jobs in April following a downwardly revised increase of 189,000 jobs in March. Economists had expected employment to climb by 185,000 jobs.
The jobless rate fell to 3.6 percent in April from 3.8 percent in March, while economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged.
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