Investing.com - Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as the escalating U.S.-China trade war rattled investors, but comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that he expects trade talks to be successful helped support market sentiment somewhat.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were both down 0.3% by 11:00 AM ET (03:00 GMT).
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.5%. The city’s stock market was closed Monday for a holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.6%, while South Korea’s KOSPI edged up 0.5%.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 traded 1.0% lower.
Tension between the U.S. and China intensified after China announced on Monday that it would raise tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. imports from June 1 in retaliation for the Trump administrations decision last week to increase tariffs on Chinese imports.
Market sentiment found some support after Trump said it would become apparent “in about three or four weeks” whether trade talks with China were successful. “You never really know, right?” Trump said. “But I have a feeling it’s going to be very successful.”
Overnight, U.S. stocks dropped more than 2% as companies that are particularly dependent on trade with China were hit. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which counts China as a major market, fell 5.8%.