Bangkok, 13 Oct

Asian shares tumbled on Monday as escalating trade tensions with China shattered a month-long calm on Wall Street.

US stocks skidded on Friday after President Donald Trump threatened to crank tariffs higher on China, signalling more trouble ahead between the two biggest economies. He was responding to restrictions Beijing is imposing on exports of rare earths, which are materials that are critical for the manufacturing of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines.

But US futures advanced, with the contract for the S&P 500 gaining 1.2 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8 per cent.

China reported its global exports rose 8.3 per cent in September from a year earlier, the strongest growth in six months and further evidence that its manufacturers are shifting sales from the US to other markets.

Exports to the US tumbled 27 per cent year-on-year last month, customs data showed.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng sank 3.5 per cent to 25,374.00.

Most other major regional markets logged losses of more than 1 per cent.

The Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.3 per cent to 3,846.25, and the Kospi in South Korea gave up 1.7 per cent to 3,550.32.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.9 per cent to 8,882.60. Taiwan's Taiex shed 1.7 per cent, and India's Sensex was down 0.5 per cent.

Markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday.

On Friday, the S&P 500 sank 2.7 per cent in its worst day since April, closing at 6,552.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.9 per cent to 45,479.60, and the Nasdaq composite lost 3.6 per cent to 22,204.43.

The setback reflected signs of a re-escalation of the trade war.

“We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, alluding to Beijing. He also said “now there seems to be no reason” to meet with China's leader, Xi Jinping, after earlier agreeing to do so as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea.

Roughly six out of every seven stocks within the S&P 500 fell. Nearly everything weakened, from Big Tech companies like Nvidia and Apple to stocks of smaller companies looking to get past uncertainty about tariffs and trade.

The market may have been primed for a slide. US stocks were already facing criticism that their prices had shot too high following the S&P 500's nearly relentless 35 per cent run from a low in April. The index, which dictates the movements for many 401(k) accounts, is still near its all-time high set earlier in the week.

Critics say the market looks too expensive after prices rose much faster than corporate profits. Worries are particularly high about companies in the artificial-intelligence industry, where pessimists see echoes of the 2000 dot-com bubble that imploded. For stocks to look less expensive, either their prices need to fall, or companies' profits need to rise.

Some of Friday's strongest action was in the oil market, where the price of a barrel of benchmark US crude sank 4.2 per cent to USD 58.90.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza. An end to the war could remove worries about disruptions to oil supplies, which had kept crude's price higher than it otherwise would have been.

Losses accelerated following Trump's tariff threat, which could gum up global trade and lead the economy to burn less fuel.

Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 3.8 per cent to USD 62.73 per barrel. However, early Monday, it was trading 92 cents higher at USD 63.65 per barrel. US benchmark crude oil gained 88 cents to USD 59.78 per barrel.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.05 per cent from 4.14 per cent late Thursday.

It had already been lower before Trump made his threats, as a report from the University of Michigan suggested that sentiment among US consumers remains in the doldrums.

In other dealings early Monday, the dollar fell to 151.87 Japanese yen from 151.89 yen late Friday. The euro climbed to USD 1.1627 from USD 1.1614.