Yahoo Finance Asian Markets Fall; China PMI, Samsung Earnings in Focus
Investing.com - Asian markets fell on morning trade on Wednesday, with Japanese and South Korean stocks down more than 1%. China’s July PMI data and Samsung Electronics’ Q2 profit were in focus.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were down 0.8% and 0.5% respectively by 10:30 PM ET (02:30 GMT).
Data showed this morning that the country’s manufacturing PMI in July came in at 49.7, higher than the forecasted 49.6 and June’s 49.4. Non-Manufacturing PMI for the month was at 53.7, lower than the expected 54.0 and last month’s 54.2.
Developments in the Sino-U.S. trade talks also received some attention after U.S. President Donald Trump accused China of not purchasing more U.S.-made agricultural products as promised.
Trump said on Twitter: "The problem with them waiting ... is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now ... or no deal at all."
The Global Times, China’s state-owned media, said the U.S. must show “sincerity” in trade talks to ease tensions between the two sides, adding that the U.S. side should hold "reasonable expectations" after making "unrealistic demands that infringe upon China's sovereignty and dignity".
“If Washington still holds the illusion that Beijing will somehow cave in and compromise on issues concerning sovereignty and other related core interests to reach a deal, then no deal is fine,” the article said.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.6%.
South Korea’s KOSPI was down 1.3%. Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) shares slumped more than 2.5% after the company said its second-quarter profit dropped 56%. However, the numbers were slightly better than the guidance Samsung provided earlier in July.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.1%. Data on the country’s consumer confidence will be out later today.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 traded 0.3% lower.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut its federal funds rate by a quarter point later in the day.
A second quarter-point rate cut is expected to come in September, though there is skepticism the rate cut is really needed after recent data showed the U.S. economy might be too strong to justify more cuts.
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