Investing.com – Asian stocks were mixed in afternoon trade on Monday as traders digested the latest geopolitical developments after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Fed and global monetary policy over the weekend, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 underperformed its regional peers with a stronger yen being cited as the catalyst for the selling in equities.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused the European Union and China of manipulating their currencies.
"China, the European Union and others have been manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower," Trump said in a tweet over the weekend. That, coupled with U.S. interest rate hikes, was weakening U.S.’s economy as the dollar strengthened, Trump claimed.
In a separate tweet, Trump added that "[t]ightening now hurts all that we have done." That came after the president told CNBC in an interview that he was "not thrilled" about the central bank hiking interest rates.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin clarified at the G-20 meeting over the weekend that Trump didn’t intend to interfere with the Fed’s decision. “The administration completely supports the Fed's independence. Where the Fed ends up on interest rates is one, completely up to them, and [two], is also dependent upon what happens to the economy.”
Meanwhile, G20 warned after a meeting on Sunday that recent trade and geopolitical tensions could harm global growth.
"Global economic growth remains robust and unemployment is at a decade low," the finance leaders said in a statement. "However, growth has been less synchronized recently, and downside risks over the short and medium term have increased,” G20 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement following a meeting held in Buenos Aires over the weekend.
In Asia, Japanese stocks were under pressure by strength in the yen as the dollar weakened following events over the weekend. The Nikkei 225 was down 1.4% by 1:45AM ET (05:45 GMT).
China’s Shanghai Composite and the SZSE Component recovered in afternoon sessions and gained 0.8% and 0.1% respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was unchanged at 28,230.
ZTE Corp (HK:0763) jumped as much as 4% earlier in the day after U.S. lawmakers cut measures from a defence bill that would have reinstated sanctions on the telecommunications equipment maker.
South Korea’s KOSPI traded 0.7% lower. Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics declined almost 2%, although the losses were partially offset by gains in automakers.
Down under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.9%.
Looking ahead, Australia CPI and South Korea’s GDP are both due later this week.