Hong Kong Market shuts for public holiday

Hong Kong share market closed for trading on Monday, 13 May 2019, for a public holiday.

Most of Asian market declined on Monday, as investors remained risk adverse amid mounting concerns for the global economic outlook after hopes for a deal to end an escalating trade war between the United States and China were dashed.

The United States and China appeared at a deadlock over trade negotiations on Sunday as Washington demanded promises of concrete changes to Chinese law and Beijing said it would not swallow any bitter fruit that harmed its interests.

China's envoy to the trade talks, Vice Premier Liu He said before leaving Washington that Beijing would not compromise on matters of principle and that tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. should be lifted as a condition for striking a deal. But Liu downplayed the level of tensions, saying China could cope with the challenges posed by the trade dispute.

President Donald Trump said on Twitter over the weekend that We are right where we want to be with China. He accused China of ripping off America. The Trump administration said it was preparing to expand 25% tariffs to another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, or practically all imports from China, after raising the import duty from 10%, with effect Friday. The tariffs war has been hammering Chinese manufacturers and is an added drag on growth for the region.

With no signs of a quick solution in sight, investors continued to await Beijing's response to the higher tariffs. China has said it would adopt countermeasures, but has not yet spelled out what it will do.

Most of investors adopted a wait-and-see stance before the U.S. announced details about additional tariffs on all imports from China later Monday.

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