Asian equities slump amid some caution in the risk mood
Japanese stocks are lower as tariffs continue to be a niggling issue in US-China trade talks. We had Trump threaten more tariffs – should talks not go well – in his speech before a WSJ report noted that both sides are still struggling to find common ground on the matter.
Meanwhile, the civil unrest in Hong Kong is continuing to affect the risk mood in the region as well, with the city continuing to descend into total chaos. The Hang Seng is down by 2.2% on the day as it sinks to session lows at the moment.
US futures are also a tad softer and that is keeping risk trades on edge as we begin the session. The franc is among the better performers with USD/CHF approaching 0.9900 though the yen has given up some of its earlier gains with USD/JPY still around 109.00.