SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares were subdued on Thursday after a new round of tit-for-tat tariffs in the U.S.-Sino trade conflict torpedoed oil prices, while the Russian rouble tumbled as the U.S. slapped fresh sanctions on the country.
People walk past an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan barely budged as caution dominated. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.5 percent, not helped by a shock slump in core machinery orders.
Early Thursday, China’s state broadcaster said China must counteract U.S. tariffs and Beijing had the confidence to protect its own interests as well as the means to do so.
China had already announced additional tariffs of 25 percent on $16 billion worth of U.S. imports from fuel to autos. The tariffs will apply to billions of dollars in U.S. gasoline, diesel and other oil products, though not crude.
Analysts at ANZ noted there were also reports President Xi Jinping had asked China’s major oil companies to increase domestic output to safeguard the country’s energy security.
The oil market took the news hard with selling escalating as major technical levels broke. [O/R]
U.S. crude was last down 12 cents at $66.82 per barrel, having shed 3.2 percent on Wednesday, while Brent was off 2 cents at $72.26.
On Wall Street, trade-sensitive industrial companies were the biggest drag on the Dow, with declines led by Boeing and Caterpillar Inc.
The Dow fell 0.18 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.03 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.06 percent.
MORE SANCTIONS
In currency markets, the Russian rouble sank after Washington said it would impose fresh sanctions because it had determined that Moscow had used a nerve
