Asian stocks back in the red on trade fears, protectionism sapping risk appetite

• US-China trade war fears and combative rhetoric from the Trump administration continue to hamper equities growth.
• Asia-Pacific session traders have once again turned their focus to rising trade tensions, and fears of a potential global slowdown on too many tariffs are beginning to simmer.

Asian stocks are seeing some hesitation at the new week’s outset, recoiling at the possibility of further trade action to come from the United State’s President Trump. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index is sitting near 22,400.00, falling below last week’s trading range and marking in new recent lows as equity trade3rs flock to safe haven assets like the Japanese Yen.

More tariffs are expected in the coming weeks as the US and China continue their standoff on international trade, with tariffs being levied by both sides recently, and equities continue to play to the weak side as market participants brace for impact, with an exponential ramping-up of the number of tariffs and the value of goods they are imposed on, with the Trump administration threatening to impose border-crossing levies on half a trillion dollars’ worth of Chinese-made goods, and China’s government strategically targeting US agricultural and raw materials sectors, seeking to specifically punish states and constituencies that voted heavily for Trump in the 2016 US federal election.

Monday’s continuation of trade angst sees Japan’s Nikkei 225 index down around 1.3% so far, while the Tokyo Topix index is relatively unharmed at -0.14%; Shanghai’s CSI 300 index is in the red for -0.15%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is down -0.2% for Monday. Australia’s ASX 200 is also down for the day, currently down -0.83%, but the MSCI broad Asia-Pacific index, which doesn’t count Japanese equities, is seeing a bump on the day, currently sitting at 0.76%.

Nikkei 225 levels to watch

Japan’s leading Nikkei 225 index has already slumped below last week’s lows, marking into a continued decline into 22,370.00, and currently finding support at the 38.2% Fibo retracement level. A bullish turnaround will be seeing resistance from last week’s high at 22,950.00, while a bearish continuation will be faced with the 61.8% Fibo retracement level, current sitting near the major 22,000.00 key level.