Asian markets decline and gold rises as trade tensions escalate between the United States and China

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Asian markets fell and gold hit a new record high on Monday morning after the United States and China escalated the trade war over the weekend.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on China after Beijing said it would expand export restrictions on rare earth elements, materials used in a range of vital technologies from semiconductors to batteries.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, among the best-performing major indexes worldwide this year, was down nearly 3.5 percent, while the CSI 300 was down 1.8 percent by mid-morning. The index is heading towards its worst one-day decline since April.

South Korea’s Kospi index fell 1.4 percent on Monday morning, while Taiwan’s broad stock market fell 1.8 percent. Japanese markets are closed due to the national holiday.

Spot gold price reached an all-time high of $4,060 per ounce, extending pool Which led to prices rising by more than 50 percent this year.

US stock futures pointed higher. Contracts tracking the S&P 500 rose 1 percent, after the index lost 2.7 percent on Friday in its worst decline since April 10, when markets were hurt by Trump’s initial tariff announcements on “Emancipation Day.”

Bitcoin recovered over the weekend to around $115,000, after falling below $105,000 following Trump’s tariff threat. Its trading exceeded $120,000 before the threat.

On Sunday, Trump appeared to take a more conciliatory tone, writing in a post on Truth Social: “The well-respected President Xi has had a bad moment. He doesn’t want a depression for his country, and neither do I. The United States wants to help China, not hurt it!!!”

Last week, China began an anti-monopoly investigation into the American chip maker Qualcomm, imposed reciprocal duties on American-owned ships docking in Chinese ports and announced restrictions on shipments of some battery parts.

Beijing criticized Trump’s plan to impose additional tariffs on Chinese exports and threatened new countermeasures on Sunday. China’s position on… Tariff wars “He was consistent: We don’t want to fight, but we’re not afraid to fight,” the Commerce Department said.

“Given the high volatility, there should be some profit-taking,” said Jason Lowe, head of Asia-Pacific equity and derivatives strategy at BNP Paribas.

“China also made clear that its export controls are not an export ban and did not respond with equal tariffs on US goods after Trump announced additional 100 percent tariffs on Chinese exports,” Hao Hong, chief investment officer at offshore China hedge fund Lotus Asset Management, wrote in a note on Monday.

“This is a de-escalation step and will mitigate the downside for Chinese markets.”

China fixed the value of the renminbi at close to its strongest level in a year, at 7.1007 renminbi to the dollar, in a move that analysts said indicated it was not planning to devalue the currency in response to Trump’s threat to impose tariffs.