Author: China National News

Posted: Monday January 30th, 2017

 

Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration curbs, shares fell in Europe and Asia on Monday and the dollar dipped against the yen.

In addition, Asian markets witnessed thin trading on account of the Lunar New Year as dealers were spooked by tensions caused by Donald Trump’s d divisive travel ban.

Concerns about the economic impact of the new U.S. president’s policies were felt across the globe.

The order to temporarily suspend refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries triggered huge protests in U.S. cities and raised concerns in markets worldwide over the potential impact of other policy moves.

«Concerns on protectionism appear to be rising after President Trump’s executive order to restrict immigration,» said Adam Cole, head of G10 foreign exchange strategy with RBC in London.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.5 percent as demand for the safe-haven yen weighed on exporters.

Australian shares closed down 0.9 percent and New Zealand shares declined 0.7 percent.

India’s Sensex was marginally lower at 27,878 while Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite index was up 0.10 percent at 5,317.

China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

China will reopen on Friday and Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Disappointing U.S. economic growth figures added to the pessimistic sentiment with Wall Street ending last week on a negative note.

On Friday, data showed that the U.S. economy grew less-than-expected during the final quarter of the year as the annualized quarter-on-quarter rate was 1.9 percent versus the 2.2 percent forecast and 3.5 percent in the previous quarter.

In early trade on Monday, the dollar tumbled against its major Asian peers, falling to 114.60 yen from 115.06 yen, while the euro rose to $1.0721 from $1.0696 and the pound climbed to $1.2570 from $1,2549.

«Chat in the market is dominated by the global backlash to Donald Trump’s executive order and any potential impact this could have in markets,» Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at FX and CFD provider AxiTrader, said in a note.

In the week ahead, markets will also pay close attention to Friday’s U.S. employment report for January. Further, three major central banks – the Bank of Japan, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England – are meeting and are expected to make key announcements.

Meanwhile, among commodities, oil prices were down following signs of growing output in the United States. Gold, however, rose 0.3 percent to $1,194.62.

 

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