Asian Stocks Fell, Australia Led Losses on Tuesday

HONG KONG, H.K. – Asian stock market fell mid-trade on Tuesday, with Australian stocks leading the losses following the negative developments on trade between the US and China as US President Donald Trump stated overnight that he would continue with the planned tariffs for aluminum and steel the US imports from Brazil and Argentina.

Australian shares were the top losers on Tuesday with the S&P/ASX 200 marking around a 2% decline.

According to the statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday, it is keeping the main cash rate of the bank at 0.75%, another record low, which according to some analysts, is in line with the expectations. Since June, the central bank of the country has already imposed rate cuts for three times.

According to Philip Lowe, RBA Governor, the easing of this year’s monetary policy is supporting the income growth as well as the employment growth in the country, which has also helped return the inflation back to the target range for the medium term.

Following the announcement of the RBA, the Australian dollar has recorded a modest increase at $0.6839 from its previous low of $0.6812.

In other parts of Asia, most markets recorded declines by the afternoon trade on Tuesday. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong tracked a 0.15% loss, led by the failing stocks of L’Occitane and SaSa. The drop followed the retail sales data published on Monday for October in Hong Kong, which has recorded a 16.2% drop for the year, marking its worst decline.

Mainland China shares have also slipped by the afternoon, with the Shenzhen composite dropping 0.322% on shares, while the Shenzhen component shed 0.3%, and the Shanghai composite recording a 0.1% loss.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index also edged lower with a 0.69% decline for the day, while the Topix index ended with a 0.51% loss. The Kospi index in South Korea also recorded a 0.5% slip as chipmaker SK Hynix shares dipped more than 1.5%.

Overall, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan index traded afternoon on Tuesday with a 0.41% decline.

Meanwhile, the trade tensions increased following the US President saying that he will restore the metal import tariffs on Argentina and Brazil. From a tweet made by President Trump, he said Argentina and Brazil have been controlling a massive regulation of their currencies, which won’t be good for the farmers in the US. Because of that, President Trump has decided to restore the tariffs on all aluminum and steel that US imports from those countries effective immediately.