Tokyo — Asian shares took a breather on Friday, slipping from one-and-a-half-year highs as material shares were hit by sudden falls in copper and other commodity prices while investors assessed Washington’s stance on tax and currency policies. US President Donald Trump called China "grand champions" of currency manipulation, doing little to raise confidence on trade relations between the world’s two biggest economies. Markets appeared to take his comments in stride, as they were made just hours after his new treasury secretary pledged a more methodical approach to analysing Beijing’s foreign exchange practices. "With [Steven] Mnuchin officially sworn in, from now on, I suspect most comments on foreign exchange policies come from him. And he has said a strong dollar is in US interests," said Shuji Shirota, head of macroeconomic strategy group in Tokyo at HSBC Securities. The offshore yuan stood little changed at 6.8545 against the dollar. The yuan was emerging Asia’s worst performer ...
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