Asian Stocks Mixed; U.S. Considers New Tariffs on EU Goods
Investing.com - Asian stocks were mixed in morning trade on Tuesday. Risk appetite took a hit today following reports that the U.S. is considering imposing new tariffs on European goods.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were both down 0.1% by 10:30 PM ET (02:30 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.4%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was unchanged at 21,757.00, while South Korea’s KOSPI edged down 0.1%.
Sony Corp (T:6758) surged as much as 6% earlier in the day following reports that Third Point, a hedge fund, is building a stake in the Japanese electronics conglomerate.
Citing sources familiar with the situation, Reuters reported that the hedge fund believes Sony’s movie studio might become a takeover target from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 inched up 0.1% to 6,226.40.
Crown Resorts (AX:CWN) made headlines after a statement revealed that Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) is in discussions to buy the Australia-listed company. The deal values Crown at A$14.75 per share, 26% more than Monday’s closing prices.
U.S. President Donald Trump is proposing tariffs against the EU on new passenger helicopters, various cheeses and wines, ski-suits and certain motorcycles, the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement on Monday.
The move is part of the process for retaliation against over $11 billion worth of damage from EU subsidies to Airbus, a rival of Boeing (NYSE:BA), that the World Trade Organization said has “repeatedly” caused “adverse effects” to the U.S.
Developments on the Sino-U.S. trade front remained in focus as Clete Willems, a top White House trade official, told Reuters in an interview that Washington is “not satisfied yet” about certain details in trade negotiations with China.
"We're making progress on a range of things, and there’s some stuff where we're not satisfied yet," Willems said. "It should be a good sign for people that we're not rushing into this we want to get it right and we need to nail down specifics."
The U.S. and China concluded two rounds of trade talks in Beijing and Washington in the last two weeks. The two sides will be resuming discussions this week remotely, according to U.S. top economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who said earlier this week that U.S. and China are moving “closer and closer” to a trade deal.
“We’ve made great progress on the IP theft. We’ve made good progress on the forced transfer of technology,” Kudlow said. The Chinese have acknowledged their problems, which was a very big hurdle, and “what wasn’t on the table, is on the table,” Kudlow said.
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