Stocks in Asia mostly slipped in Tuesday morning trade as Chinese inflation data showed a surge in consumer prices in November.
Mainland Chinese stocks declined in early trade, with the Shanghai composite down about 0.2% and the Shenzhen component slipping 0.25%. The Shenzhen composite also shed 0.295%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also traded 0.27% lower.
Chinese consumer inflation jumped in November, according to data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
The Consumer Price Index for November jumped 4.5% year-on-year, as food prices skyrocketed 19.1% amid an outbreak of African swine fever.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.18% in morning trade while the Topix index was 0.1% lower. South Korea’s Kospi bucked the overall trend regionally as it rose 0.13%.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia returned to negative territory, with the S&P/ASX 200 0.23% lower.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan traded 0.17% lower.
Meanwhile, on the U.S.-China trade front, Bloomberg reported Tuesday that U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Washington is unlikely to impose upcoming tariffs on Chinese exports, set to go into effect on Dec. 15.
“We have a deadline coming up on the Dec. 15 for another tranche of tariffs, I do not believe those will be implemented and I think we may see some backing away,” Perdue said, according to Bloomberg.
Investors have been watching for more concrete details on an anticipated “phase one” deal between the two economic powerhouses ahead of Dec. 15. The trade war between the U.S. and China has now raged on for more than a year with duties slapped on billions of dollars worth of each other’s goods.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 105.46 points lower at 27,909.60 while the S&P 500 shed 0.3% to end its trading day at 3,135.96. The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.4% to close at 8,621.83.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 97.63 after seeing earlier highs above 97.7.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.61 per dollar after strengthening from levels above 109.6 last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6825 after seeing highs above $0.684 in the previous trading week.
Oil prices slipped in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures shedding 0.2% to $64.12 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also declined 0.14% to $58.94 per barrel.
