Investing.com - Asian equities slid in morning trade on Monday as traders remained cautious after a global sell-off in the previous week.
U.S. stocks recovered on Friday and gained the most in six months as technology shares rebounded and pushed major indexes higher.
However, investors remained cautious over concerns on rising interest rates and a possible economic slowdown.
In the annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting that wrapped up in Bali over the weekend, Brazil’s central bank President Ilan Goldfajn and Bank for International Settlements General Manager Agustin Carstens pinpointed global trade tensions as one of the biggest threats to emerging economies.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite both slipped 0.01% by 9:45PM ET (01:45 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.8%.
Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, said over the weekend in the IMF meeting that the central bank still has “plenty of room” for adjustment in interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), if trade tensions with the United States continue to intensify.
"We still have plenty of monetary instruments in terms of interest rate policy, in terms of required reserve ratio. We have plenty of room for adjustment, in case we need it," he said, adding that China still wants a "constructive solution" to the ongoing trade disputes.
In an interview with CBS that aired on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering imposing more tariffs on China.
“I want them to negotiate a fair deal with us. I want them to open their markets like our markets are open,” said Trump.
The U.S. has imposed three rounds of tariffs on Chinese imports totalling $250 billion so far this year.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.2% as Softbank Corp. (T:9984) plunged as much as 5% in the morning over concerns of the company’s ties to Saudi Arabia, which was under pressure on fears of sanctions following the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and former Saudi government adviser who was a critic of the administration.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 dropped 1.1%.
South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.2%.
Looking ahead, the Federal Open Market Committee will release minutes from its most recent policy meeting on Wednesday. Chinese inflation figures are due Tuesday while the third-quarter GDP, industrial production, retail sales are expected to take centre stage on Friday.