Hong Kong Market falls on renewed China trade concerns

Hong Kong share market were lower on Friday, 31 August 2018, on tracking the negative cues from Wall Street overnight after reports that U.S. President Donald Trump intends to move ahead with plans to impose tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. At midday, the Hang Seng Index declined 257.46 points or 0.91% to 27,906.59. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 76.87 points or 0.7% to 10,890.74. The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking the Commerce & Industry sector declined 1.7% and the financial sector was 0.4% down, meanwhile Utilities sector lost 0.9% and properties sector fell 0.6%.

China kept its tariff dispute with the United States infocus as its commerce ministry insisted negotiations must be based on "equality," with Washington's proposed tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, which will come into effect next month after a public comment period ends on Wednesday, Sept. 5.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed down on Thursday on concerns about the U.S.-China trade war, upstaged optimism that the United States and Canada could clinch a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 137.65 points or 0.5% to 25,986.92, the Nasdaq fell 21.32 points or 0.3% to 8,088.36 and the S&P 500 dropped 12.91 points or 0.4% to 2,901.13.

The major European stock markets ended lower on Thursday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6%. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

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