TOKYO, May 31: Global shares were mostly lower Friday as trade worries continued after U.S. President Donald Trump announced additional tariffs on imports from Mexico.
France’s CAC 40 shed 1.1% in early trading to 5,191.65. Germany’s DAX was down 1.5% at 11,724.50. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged down 0.9% to 7,155.86. U.S. shares were set to drift lower as well, with Dow futures down 0.9% at 24,963. S&P 500 futures dropped 1.0% to 2,763.60.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 1.6% to finish at 20,601.19, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up nearly 0.1% to 6,396.90. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.1% to 2,041.74. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.8% to 26,901.09, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.2% to 2,898.70.
Cooperation for trade
Trump announced a new 5% tariff on all Mexican imports aimed at pressuring Mexico to halt the flow of migrants into the U.S. The tariff, to be effective June 10, would increase each month if Trump is not satisfied by Mexico’s efforts on border security.
“Early expectations for the temporary relief on Wall Street to spread to Asia markets into Friday had once again been derailed with more confrontation trade policies out of the U.S., one to throw markets into a risk-off mode again,” said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.
Japanese automakers, which could suffer from the new tariffs because they have manufacturing plants in Mexico, declined in Tokyo trading. Toyota Motor Corp. dropped 2.9%, while Honda Motor Co. plunged 4.3%.
Trade concerns are likely to continue through late June, when U.S. and Chinese leaders will have an opportunity to meet at the G-20 summit in Japan.
In early May, the U.S. and China concluded their 11th round of trade talks with no agreement. The U.S. then more than doubled duties on $200 billion in Chinese products, and China responded by raising its own tariffs.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 52 cents to $56.07 a barrel. It skidded 3.8% to settle at $56.59 a barrel Thursday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, slipped 75 cents to $64.58 per barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 108.81 Japanese yen from 109.69 yen on Thursday. The euro rose to $1.1149 from $1.1138.
