Tokyo —Asian stocks fell on Friday after weak US retail sales figures raised fresh doubts about the strength of the world’s largest economy, offsetting optimism towards trade talks between the US and China. Also casting a shadow, the White House said US President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to try to obtain funds for his promised US-Mexico border wall, drawing immediate criticism from Democrats. A wait-and-see mood ensued for markets ahead of the results of a meeting on Friday between the Trump administration’s top two negotiators and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. There has been no decision to extend a March 1 deadline for a deal, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which had scaled a four-month high midweek on factors including the expectation for reduced US-China trade tensions, was down 0.8%. The Shanghai composite index lost 0.6%. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.2% and Sout...
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