Weak dollar and trade tensions are spoiling the mood for equity investors
Trade tensions stirred up by US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross yesterday is reverberating into trading today. Although the Dow closed at a record high, the S&P500 and Nasdaq was weighed down and that continues into Asian trading today.
The tech sector in the Nikkei and Hang Seng index are down 1.45% and 1.23% respectively, and most Asian stock indices are down on the day - mainly dragged lower by the trading sentiment in itself.
But we're also seeing shares in Thailand take a hit - especially exporters - as a rising currency against the dollar has the potential to hurt exports. The same goes for the Nikkei as well, as the age-old correlation between the yen and the Nikkei is coming up again today.
Here's how the major stock indices in Asia are performing so far:
- Nikkei -1.09%
- Hang Seng -0.37%
- Shanghai Composite -0.21%
- CSI 300 -0.64%
- Kospi +0.70%
- ASX 200 -0.08%
