Asian equity markets ended mixed on Friday as investors responded with calm to the US tariffs on 34 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports that took effect after midnight Thursday. China said it is ‘forced to make a necessary counterattack’ in equal measure. Chinese shares clawed back earlier losses, but lengthened a string of weekly declines as Washington’s tariffs on Chinese goods took effect, escalating the trade row between the world’s two largest economies. Meanwhile, Japanese shares rose for the first time this week, as investors took heart from gains in Chinese stocks and covered their short positions after early wobbles when Washington’s tariffs on Chinese imports took effect.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,746.48 | 12.60 | 0.46 |
Hang Seng | 28,315.62 | 133.53 | 0.47 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,694.91 | -44.42 | -0.78 |
KLSE Composite | 1,663.86 | -26.79 | -1.58 |
Nikkei 225 | 21,788.14 | 241.15 | 1.11 |
Straits Times | 3,191.82 | -64.89 | -2.03 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,272.87 | 15.32 | 0.67 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,608.57 | -3.24 | -0.03 |
