CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid renewed U.S.-China trade war after US President Donald Trump threatened to massively increase tariffs on China in retaliation for China's expansive export curbs on its rare earth minerals, which are essential for manufacturing and technology. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.
Trump accused China of 'becoming very hostile' in a post on social media platform Truth Social and threatened a 'massive increase' in tariffs on Chinese products coming into the U.S. The new tariffs could come into effect as soon as November 1.The escalation of the trade war raised concerns about the potential impact on the global economy.
The Australian stock market is notably lower on Monday, adding to the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling to be a tad above the 8,900.00 level, with weakness across most sectors led by energy and technology stocks. Gold was the only bright spot.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 54.50 points or 0.61 percent to 8,903.80, after hitting a low of 8,884.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 58.10 points or 0.63 percent to 9,206.20. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue is declining almost 2 percent and Mineral Resources is slipping more than 3 percent.
Oil stocks are lower. Woodside Energy, Santos and Beach energy are declining more than 2 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is tumbling more than 5 percent, Xero slipping 2.5 percent, Appen is declining 3.5 percent, Zip is losing more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 3 percent.
Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining, Northern Star Resources and Newmont are gaining almost 4 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are jumping more than 5 percent each.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is edging up 0.3 percent.
In other news, shares in Toro Energy are skyrocketing more than 38 percent on news Canada's uranium company IsoEnergy will increase its stake and buy all remaining shares in a $75 million scheme implementation deal.
Shares in Treasury Wines Estates are tumbling almost 13 percent after the Penfolds owner withdrew its earnings guidance amid weaker-than-expected trading in China and halted its $200 million share buyback.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.653 on Monday.
The Japanese stock market is closed for National Sports Day on Monday. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 151 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are down 2.3 and 1.7 percent, respectively. New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are lower by between 0.3 and 1.0 percent each.
On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure in morning trading on Friday and saw further downside as the session progressed, ending the day substantially lower. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulled back further off Wednesday's record closing highs, plunging to their lowest closing levels in a month.
The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plummeted 820.20 points or 3.7 percent to 22,204.43, the S&P 500 tumbled 182.60 points or 2.7 percent to 6,552.51 and the Dow slumped 878.82 points or 1.9 percent to 45,479.60.
The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both tumbled by 1.5 percent.
Crude oil prices tumbled on Friday after Trump threatened to massively increased tariffs on China in retaliation for its expansion of export controls on rare earths. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.69 or 4.37 percent at $58.82 per barrel.
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