Asian equity indices are trading lower in the early deals on Friday after Beijing responded to the Trump administration's tariff hikes by saying it may order higher import duties on a range of US goods, ratcheting up fears of a trade war. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is plunging on renewed fears of a potential trade war. In addition, the safe-haven yen strengthened to its highest level in more than a year against the US dollar, dragging shares of exporters' lower.
Nikkei 225 dipped 905.66 points or 4.19% to 20,686.33, Straits Times declined 71.85 points or 2.06% to 3,419.52, Hang Seng tumbled 872.04 points or 2.81% to 30,199.01, Taiwan Weighted contracted 179.87 points or 1.63% to 10,825.97, Jakarta Composite dropped 107.88 points or 1.73% to 6,146.19, Shanghai Composite slipped 106.59 points or 3.27% to 3,156.89, KOSPI Index decreased 60.23 points or 2.41% to 2,435.79, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down by 12.49 points or 0.67% to 1,864.38.
