Sydney — Asian shares faltered on Wednesday amid the fear of rising US protectionism as President Donald Trump fired his secretary of state, regarded as a moderate in his administration, and sought to impose hefty tariffs on Chinese imports. The combination of moves by Trump left investors scurrying for safety as global equities took a knock, the dollar fell and bonds rose. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stumbled 0.7%, retreating from a one-and-a-half-month high hit on Tuesday, with technology sector the biggest drag. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1% and South Korea’s Kospi index declined 0.6%. China’s SSE Composite index and the blue-chip CSI 300 slipped 0.3% each. The weakness followed overnight losses on Wall Street, with the Dow off 0.7%, the S&P 500 down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite falling 1.0%. The selling intensified after Trump dismissed Tillerson following a series of public rifts over policy on North Korea, Russia and Iran. He was replaced with loyal...
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