Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday following Wall Street’s decline, which ended a nine-day winning streak for major U.S. indexes.
In China, services sector activity dropped to its lowest level since September, signalling that President Trump’s intensifying trade war is weighing heavily on the world’s second-largest economy. A steep increase in tariffs on Chinese goods, rising to 145%, has led to a significant fall in shipping and logistics activity.
“Overall optimism among Chinese firms weakened to the lowest level since this series began in April 2012, resulting in further job cuts in April,” according to a report by financial media group Caixin.
Despite the economic concerns, Chinese markets rose after reopening from the “Golden Week” holiday. The Shanghai Composite gained 1% to 3,311.89, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.7% to 22,651.65.
Taiwan’s Taiex edged down by less than 0.1% elsewhere in the region, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 8,148.40.
On Wall Street Monday, the S&P 500 fell 0.6% to 5,650.38, marking the end of its longest winning streak since 2004. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.7%.
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