TOKYO: Asian stocks and Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday, as confusing signals over the extent of progress made in U.S.-China trade talks and concern about intensifying unrest in Hong Kong hurt demand for risky assets.
Trump also rattled some investors by threatening China with even more tariffs if they do not sign a deal. "Markets are now expecting substantial progress in the next week or so, and if not, then confidence could crumble. There are diverging interpretations of Trump's comments. I tend to go with commodities like oil and copper because they are plugged in to global demand, so their fall is significant."
In recent weeks, both sides have indicated they were making progress toward an agreement that would potentially scale back some tariffs, but a lack of additional information is starting to unsettle some investors in equities and other riskier assets. Hong Kong stocks slumped as protesters planned to paralyze parts of the Asian financial hub for a third day, with transport, schools and many businesses closing after violence escalated across the city.