Asia Stocks Trade Mixed as Uncertainties of U.S.-China Trade Deal Weigh on Sentiment

Stocks in Asia were mixed on Monday, August 17, 2020, as the tension between the U.S. and China remained, following a postponement of their trade talks initially set to meet last Saturday.

 

As of 9:36 local time in Thailand (GMT+7), Nikkei dropped 0.62%, SSEC rose 1.29%, HSI increased 1.12%, ASX 200 dipped 0.54%, while Kospi closed on a holiday.

 

Earlier, the U.S. and China had scheduled a meeting on August 15, 2020, to review their Phase 1 trade deal, which would be the first meeting since the coronavirus outbreak this year.

However, Reuters reported later that both parties delayed a review of the trade deal due to scheduling conflict and providing more time for China to increase their imports on U.S. products, which currently was well behind the target promised to the U.S. due to the coronavirus outbreak. In the meanwhile, no new date has been scheduled.

Meanwhile, Japan reported its historical worst GDP contraction for 2Q20 at 27.8% this morning due to the impact of the pandemic outbreak.