Published on August 5, 2019
Asian shares today slid to around seven-month lows and the yuan slumped to a more than a decade as a rapid escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade war sent investors stampeding to traditional safe harbours including the yen, bonds and gold.
China’s Shanghai Composite index plunged 1.6 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tanked 2.9 per cent. South Korea’s KOSPI fell heavily by 2.6 per cent, Singapore’s Straits Times declined 1.9 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei-225 ended down 1.7 per cent.
European stocks were also down in intra-day trade. London’s TSE-100 plunged two per cent, France’s CAC declined 2.1 per cent and Germany’s DAX fell 1.6 per cent when reports last came in.