Asian shares decline on renewed China-US trade worries

Shares declined Monday in Asia as investors watched for latest developments in China-U.S. tre war saga.

Hong Kong led retreat, with Hang Seng falling 2.1% to 27,062.49 by mid-morning after a police officer wounded a protester in a shooting. Demonstrators blocked subway lines and ros in sourn Chinese financial hub during Monday morning commute. Uncertainty has risen in city after more than five months of protests that began with a fight over an extrition bill that has expanded to include demands for greater democracy and police accountability.

Shanghai Composite index declined 1.2% to 2,928.04, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.2% to 23,342.05. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.7% to 2,122.32.

Australia’s S&P ASX/200 was sole major index to vance, gaining 0.5% to 6,759.90. Shares fell in Taiwan and Souast Asia.

Hopes for a breakthrough in tre standoff between Beijing and Washington were shaken when President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed a Chinese official’s assertion that U.S. side h agreed to roll back some tariffs on Chinese goods that it has imposed in conflict over tre and techlogy policies.

A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman said Thursday that two sides h agreed to a phased cancellation of ir tariff hikes as part of an agreement w under negotiation.

“y’d like to have a rollback,” Trump told reporters at White House. “I haven’t agreed to anything.”

That raised doubts over progress officials h suggested was being me in finalizing a “Phase 1” deal that was anunced on Oct. 12.

A private sector source with kwledge of talks said Thursday that U.S. h agreed to suspend duties Trump threatened to impose on Dec. 15th on about $160 billion of Chinese imports as part of agreement. But re is dissension within White House about wher and by how much to roll back 15% duties imposed on Sept. 1 on ar $112 billion of goods.

“It will be U.S.-China tre talks that will continue to dictate daily swings in sentiment this week,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary.

“What matters is getting some sort of interim tre deal across line for both sides. President Trump’s comments sounded more like a negotiating tactic than an actual threat, and Wall Street seemed to agree.”

Shares in New York ended last week with healthy gains, though stocks wobbled between small gains and losses on Friday, amid conflicting signals about tre talks.

In end, S&P 500 rallied in last hour of tring, closing at a record 3,093.08, up 0.3%. That was fifth straight week of gains for index, which matches its longest winning streak in last two years.

Dow Jones Industrial Aver edged up less than 0.1%, to 27,681.24, and Nasdaq composite gained 0.5% to 8,475.31.

Walt Disney jumped 3.8% for one of biggest gains in S&P 500 after it reported stronger profit for latest quarter than expected, thanks in part to its “Toy Story 4”and “ Lion King” movies. company also said it received a positive response from a test of its planned streaming service, Disney Plus.

On losing end was Gap, which sank 7.6% for largest loss in S&P 500 after retailer slashed its profit forecast for year. It also anunced resignation of its CEO, Art Peck.

Benchmark crude oil lost 47 cents to $56.77 a barrel in electronic tring on New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 9 cents on Friday to settle at $57.24 a barrel.

Brent crude oil, international standard, lost 52 cents to $61.99 per barrel. It rose 22 cents on Friday to $62.51 a barrel.

dollar fell to 109.03 Japanese yen from 109.18 yen on Friday. euro rose to $1.1024 from $1.1021.