Asian markets pull back at harsh reality beyond U.S.-China trade truce

By Marketwatch

Bloomberg News

A container ship sails from Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai.

Asian markets fell in early trading Wednesday, as the luster of the “phase one” trade deal between the U.S. and China faded and the reality of a long road ahead loomed.

U.S. and Chinese officials are scheduled to sign the deal Wednesday in Washington. Exact details — such as potential economic reforms by China and tariff reductions by the U.S. — have not yet been released, but are expected to be announced then.

But despite the progress, experts say resolutions to key issues will take years of negotiations.

“The signing of the Phase 1 deal would represent a welcome, even if modest, de-escalation of trade hostilities between China and the U.S.,” Eswar Prasad told the Associated Press. “But it hardly addresses in any substantive way the fundamental sources of trade and economic tensions between the two sides, which will continue to fester.’’

Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist with AxiTrader, agreed, in a note. “Some air has come out of the trade deal party balloon as the market pivots to the unknowns around the phase two component,” he wrote.

One of those issues is Huawei Technologies Co., the Chinese telecom-equipment giant. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the U.S. is looking to tighten regulations against Huawei, and some in Congress are reportedly calling on a $1 billion plan to subsidize U.S. companies to help them better compete against Huawei and other Chinese companies developing 5G technology.

Japan’s Nikkei /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK -1.97%   fell 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI +0.10%   slid 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP -0.13%   declined 0.7% while the Shenzhen Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598015/delayed CN:399106 -0.07%   dipped 0.6%. South Korea’s Kospi /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +0.68%   edged down 0.4%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan /zigman2/quotes/210597977/delayed TW:Y9999 +0.35%  , Singapore /zigman2/quotes/210597985/delayed SG:STI -0.55%  , Malaysia /zigman2/quotes/210598052/delayed MY:FBMKLCI +0.45%   and Indonesia /zigman2/quotes/210597981/delayed ID:JAKIDX -0.23%   declined. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO -0.68%   bucked the trend, rising 0.4%.

Among individual stocks, SoftBank /zigman2/quotes/207303954/delayed JP:9984 -1.84%   dropped in Tokyo trading, as did Mazda /zigman2/quotes/204777714/delayed JP:7261 -4.12%   and Sony /zigman2/quotes/201361720/delayed JP:6758 -1.04%  . In Hong Kong, food processor WH Group /zigman2/quotes/204247792/delayed HK:288 +0.60%   fell, along with Sunny Optical /zigman2/quotes/206687505/delayed HK:2382 +0.10%   and oil company CNOOC /zigman2/quotes/203421416/delayed HK:883 -0.36%  . Samsung /zigman2/quotes/209800866/delayed KR:005930 +0.72%   declined in South Korea, while Beach Energy /zigman2/quotes/200513631/delayed AU:BPT -0.56%   jumped in Australia.

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

29,100.38

-584.99 -1.97%

Volume: 0.00

April 20, 2021 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

29,135.73

+29.58 +0.10%

Volume: 2.01M

April 20, 2021 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,472.94

-4.61 -0.13%

Volume: 28.53B

April 20, 2021 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/210598015/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:399106

Shenzhen Composite Index

CN : Shenhzen Stock Exchange

2,272.68

-1.68 -0.07%

Volume: 37.79B

April 20, 2021 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:180721

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

3,220.70

+21.86 +0.68%

Volume: 1.30M

April 20, 2021 3:30p

/zigman2/quotes/210597977/delayed

Add to watchlist TW:Y9999

Taiwan TAIEX

TW : Taiwan Stock Exchange

17,323.87

+60.59 +0.35%

Volume: 0.00

April 20, 2021 1:33p

/zigman2/quotes/210597985/delayed

Add to watchlist SG:STI

FTSE Straits Times Index

SG : Singapore: SGX

3,192.17

-17.55 -0.55%

Volume: 0.00

April 20, 2021 5:20p

/zigman2/quotes/210598052/delayed

Add to watchlist MY:FBMKLCI

FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI

MY : Malaysia

1,607.57

+7.28 +0.45%

Volume: 0.00

April 20, 2021 5:05p

/zigman2/quotes/210597981/delayed

Add to watchlist ID:JAKIDX

JSX Composite Index

ID : Indonesia Stock Exchange

6,038.32

-14.22 -0.23%

Volume: 0.00

April 20, 2021 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

7,017.80

-47.80 -0.68%

Volume: 554,640

April 20, 2021 5:07p

/zigman2/quotes/207303954/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:9984

SoftBank Group Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 9,821.00

-184.00 -1.84%

Volume: 9.22M

April 20, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

12.70

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

¥17873.21 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥76.45M

/zigman2/quotes/204777714/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:7261

Mazda Motor Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 860.00

-37.00 -4.12%

Volume: 6.47M

April 20, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

¥559.88 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥67.95M

/zigman2/quotes/201361720/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:6758

Sony Group Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 11,865.00

-125.00 -1.04%

Volume: 3.63M

April 20, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

13.76

Dividend Yield

0.46%

Market Cap

¥15090.12 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥73.75M

/zigman2/quotes/204247792/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:288

WH Group Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 6.72

+0.04 +0.60%

Volume: 43.90M

April 20, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

15.48

Dividend Yield

2.60%

Market Cap

HK$98.80 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/206687505/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2382

Sunny Optical Technology Group Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 194.80

+0.20 +0.10%

Volume: 5.72M

April 20, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

38.75

Dividend Yield

0.54%

Market Cap

HK$197.26 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$1.75M

/zigman2/quotes/203421416/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:883

CNOOC Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 8.36

-0.03 -0.36%

Volume: 95.09M

April 20, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

13.27

Dividend Yield

5.38%

Market Cap

HK$365.22 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$9.51M

/zigman2/quotes/209800866/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:005930

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

KR : S. Korea: KRX

₩ 83,900.00

+600.00 +0.72%

Volume: 15.52M

April 20, 2021 3:30p

P/E Ratio

21.84

Dividend Yield

1.69%

Market Cap

₩563775.28 billion

Rev. per Employee

₩2.16B

/zigman2/quotes/200513631/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:BPT

Beach Energy Ltd.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 1.76

-0.01 -0.56%

Volume: 4.61M

April 20, 2021 4:10p

P/E Ratio

11.47

Dividend Yield

1.14%

Market Cap

$3.93 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A