Asian markets are trading mostly in red in early deals on Tuesday after an escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions as U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 10 percent tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, which will go up to 25 percent by the end of 2018. China has vowed to retaliate against any new tariffs imposed by the U.S. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to trade concerns and a drop in crude oil prices. The Japanese stock market, which was closed on Monday for a holiday, is rising on Tuesday after opening lower following the weak cues overnight from Wall Street. The major exporters are mostly higher despite a stronger yen. Among the other Asian markets, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Shanghai are lower. Bucking the trend, Malaysia is higher.
Taiwan Weighted decreased 68.30 points or 0.63% to 10,760.31, Straits Times declined 18.18 points or 0.58% to 3,123.22, Jakarta Composite shed 20.57 points or 0.35% to 5,803.69, Hang Seng dropped 200.18 points or 0.75% to 26,732.67 and Shanghai Composite down by 3.26 points or 0.12% to 2,648.53.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 337.32 points or 1.44% to 23,431.99 and KOSPI up by 1.27 points or 0.06% to 2,304.28.
