Asian stocks rise as trade war worries worsen

Asian stocks gained Monday amid investor jitters the US-China trade war might be worsening, reports AP.

Benchmarks in Shanghai and South Korea rose while Hong Kong and Australia were unchanged. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

Investors were encouraged by hopes global central banks will keep interest rates low to shore up economic growth. But they worry President Donald Trump’s impending Sept. 1 tariff hike on more Chinese imports will scuttle talks aimed at ending their trade war.

Wall Street’s benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped as much as 1.3 per cent Friday after Trump said it would be “fine” if trade talks next month don’t happen.”

Safe havens are “still in demand on trade war anxiety,” said Alfonso Esparza of Oanda in a report. “Headwinds remain strong as a deal in the short term between the US and China is a long shot.”

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.7 per cent to 2,793.50 points while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little-changed at 25,919.68.

Seoul’s Kospi added 0.4 per cent to 1,945.82 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 was down 0.2 per cent 6,568.60.

Taiwan declined while New Zealand was unchanged.

Markets in India, Singapore and Thailand were closed for holidays.