Investing.com – Asian markets were mostly lower in afternoon trade on Monday as investor feared the Turkish currency crisis could spill over into the global markets.
The Turkish lira dived almost 8% on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had approved the doubling of metals tariffs against Turkey. The lira plunged as much as 20% against the dollar on Friday shortly after the announcement.
In response, Turkey announced on Sunday that it has drafted an economic action plan to ease investor concerns.
"From Monday morning onwards our institutions will take the necessary steps and will share the announcements with the market," Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said, although he did not elaborate on what the steps would be.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite and the SZSE Component traded 1.3% and 1.2% lower respectively by 1:30AM ET (05:30 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was also down 1.5%.
PetroChina Co Ltd (HK:0857) is reportedly considering halting purchases of the U.S.’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot cargoes in winter due to the increased tariffs amidst the trade dispute the U.S. and China, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Citing sources with knowledge of the strategy, the article said the Chinese company is likely to bolster purchases of spot cargoes from other countries or swap U.S. shipments with nations in East Asia.
Looking ahead, China will release industrial production, fixed-asset investment and retail sales data on Tuesday.
South Korea’s KOSPI eased 1.5%. Technology stocks continued to underperform with index heavyweight Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) losing 1.2% in afternoon trade after local media reported that the company is considering suspending operations at one of its mobile phone manufacturing plants in China due to slumping sales and rising labor costs.
"The overall smartphone market is having difficulties due to slowing growth. Samsung Electronics' Tianjin telecom enterprise aims to focus on activities that increase competitiveness and efficiency," Samsung said in a statement to Reuters.
Elsewhere, Singapore’s GDP eased to 3.9% in second quarter from prior three months, compared to the previous estimated 4.2%.
Down under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%. Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.7%.