Asian investors tread uneasily

Risk-off remains in vogue as trade disputes continue to flare, suggesting any risk assets recovery will remain extremely fragile

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets swung Wednesday, gripped by uncertainty over the China-US trade talks, with warnings that Donald Trump’s unpredictability could be harming the chances of an eventual agreement.

Trading has been volatile this week after the US president’s weekend outburst against Beijing and announcement of more tariffs on $550 billion of goods were followed Monday by him saying the two sides had spoken by phone, and negotiations would resume soon.

China, however, has not confirmed any calls took place, while media in the country have played down the chances of more talks or the leadership’s need for a deal.

The developments are the latest in a series of moves by the White House that have seen it slam China before holding out an olive branch. Analysts say traders are growing uneasy with the strategy. Stephen Innes at Valour Markets said: “There remains a high degree of skepticism regarding the sincerity of Trump’s comments or even if the Chinese are willing to recommence negotiations.”

He pointed out that an inflammatory tweet on Friday in which Trump labelled Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell and China’s Xi Jinping enemies of the US had resonated among traders.

“Risk-off remains in vogue as trade disputes continue to flare, suggesting any risk assets recovery will remain extremely fragile.”

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, added: “Quite simply last Friday’s events appear to have done significant damage to investor appetite towards risk, and as such the bar to a turnaround is likely to be on the high side.

“It’s not difficult to understand investor reticence in this regard, with the frequent Twitter interventions by President Trump going a long way to undermine confidence in the reliability of the US position on trade, with Friday’s events likely to have been a tipping point for some.”