Asia stocks spooked by Trump tariff talk, Iran tensions

Investing.com-- Asian stocks were a mixed batch on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that he will set trade tariffs on major economies in the coming weeks, while investors also held out for more details on a U.S.-China trade deal. 

Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which pushed up oil prices, also weighed on risk appetite, although indexes with heavy exposure to commodities clocked some gains. 

Regional markets mostly tracked overnight weakness in Wall Street, amid reports that the U.S. was evacuating scores of non-emergency and non-military personnel from Iraq as nuclear talks with Iran fell through. Other reports said Israel was ready to attack Iran if no nuclear deal was reached.

S&P 500 Futures fell 0.4% in Asian trade after Trump said that he will begin sending letters outlining his trade tariffs to major trading partners in the next two weeks.Trump also flagged a hardline stance on negotiations, stating that the countries in question will be offered a deal and can "take it or... leave it." 

His comments largely offset optimism over a U.S.-China trade deal reached this week, which was also limited by neither side provided any major details on the purported agreement. 

Soft U.S. consumer inflation data also offered little support to risk appetite. 

China stocks dip as US trade optimism fades 

China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes fell slightly on Thursday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.5%. 

All three indexes were sitting on some gains this week, after Washington and Beijing said they had agreed to a trade framework after high-level talks in London. 

Trump claimed that a China trade deal was done and was now up to President Xi Jinping for approval. Trump also said that China will restart its rare earth exports, at least for the next six months.

But a lack of more details sapped optimism over the deal, especially given that U.S. and Chinese tariffs will remain in place, albeit at the lower levels set during May trade talks. 

Some Chinese stocks were also pressured by local factors. Electric vehicle majors such as BYD Co (HK:1211) and NIO Inc (HK:9866) fell more than 2% each after

Asia stocks drift lower amid trade, M.East uncertainty 

Broader Asian markets moved in a flat-to-low range, amid few positive signals for the region.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes were the worst performers for the day, losing 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively. The Nikkei was pressured by some resilience in the yen, while losses in local tech stocks also weighed.

Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.2% on gains in energy and gold mining stocks. The ASX briefly hit a record high of 8,639.10 points on Wednesday, amid persistent bets on deeper interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank. 

South Korea’s KOSPI was an outlier, rising 0.5% to a 3-½ year high on persistent optimism over the liberal party taking the presidency earlier this month. Bernstein analysts recommended doubling down on local stocks, citing political stability and an earnings recovery. 

Singapore’s Straits Times index rose 0.3%, while Gift Nifty 50 Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index rose 0.2%, pointing to a positive open. The Information reported that Indian major Reliance Industries Ltd (NSE:RELI) was in talks to invest in OpenAI.