Asian shares find their feet, but Shanghai rout continues
Mainland Chinese shares have fallen nearly 10% this week, and Wall Street is 7% off its 100-day high, as fear grows about the US-China trade war
Singapore — Asian shares found a slightly firmer footing on Friday, to set a course for their first gains in two weeks. But the rout in Shanghai continued and shares hit lows last seen in 2014. Investor sentiment remained frail, with Wall Street’s fear gauge — the CBOE volatility index — rising to an eight-month high, pointing to more downside risk, market sources said. The biggest market shakeout since February has been blamed on a series of factors, including fear about the fallout of a US-China trade war, a spike in US bond yields this week and caution ahead of earnings seasons. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.3%, led by gains in South Korea and Taiwan. The MSCI index fell 3.6% on Thursday to hit a year-and-a-half low. It is on track for a weekly loss of more than 4%.
Japan’s Nikkei average fell 0.5% while the Shanghai composite dropped as much as 1.8% to the lowest levels since late 2014, taking losses so far this week to almost 10%. Wall ...
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