TOKYO - Asian shares slipped from eight-month highs on Wednesday as the International Monetary Fund lowered its global growth outlook and as the United States and Europe locked horns over tariffs in a fresh escalation of trade tensions.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.1 percent, a day after it hit its highest since Aug. 1.On Wall Street, the S&P 500 gave up 0.61 percent and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.56 percent on Tuesday. “The gap between the strength in global shares and sluggishness in the real economy has been widening,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The move came as markets remain on edge as negotiators try to hammer out trade deals with China and neighbors Mexico and Canada. It was a record breaking vote of market confidence for the oil giant despite concerns sparked after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October.
Then, the EU could allow a softer Brexit...