Asian stocks continue the slide ahead of Friday’s tariffs

• Asia equities have been on a steady decline this week ahead of Friday’s US-China tariff action.
• China equities are edging steadily into bear territory for 2018 as trade war concerns ramp up.

Asian stocks are on the decline once again, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 backing into 21,500.00 on growing trade war concerns.

Friday sees the US enacting tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods, and according to Reuter’s sources, China is set to hit back with their own package of tariffs at midnight Beijing time on the 6th, and equities through the Asia Pacific sessions are continuing their retreat through this week ahead of the tit-for-tat tariff war between the US and China.

The Nikkei index is down -0.85% for the day, with the Tokyo Topix index down -0.97% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index in the red for -0.87%. Shanghai’s CSI 300 is also down -0.70%, while the MSCI Asia Pacific is striking a milder tone, down only -0.23% for Thursday.

Nikkei levels to watch

The Nikkei 225 has sunk to a new three-month low at 21,500.00, and support is thin at this area, with April’s low at 20,920.00, while a bullish reversal will have to climb back over July’s open at 22,180.00 with June’s high sitting at 23,000.00.