Sept 4 (Reuters) - Asian shares posted their biggest drop in
three months in August, as escalating Sino-U.S. trade tensions
and fears of a global recession prompted investors to sell
riskier assets.
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares,
.MIAP00000PUS fell 3.4% last month, its worst decline since
May.
The United States and China announced new tariffs on each
other's products in August after a brief truce.
Also, yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR fell
below the two-year yield US2YT=RR briefly, stoking further
fears of a potential recession. An inverting yield curve is seen
as a leading indicator of an impending economic
recession. Regional shares were also let down by a lacklustre earnings
performance by Asian firms in the second quarter. Refinitiv data
showed 55% of Asian firms missed their consensus earnings
estimates in the June quarter.
In August, equities markets in Hong Kong .HSI plummeted
7.4% and Singapore .STI shed 5.9%, while Japan .N225 and
Thailand .SETI both fell more than 3%.
All of Asia's equities markets made losses last month.
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Asia monthly price change Aug 2019 https://tmsnrt.rs/2zTIZQh
Asia Pacific equities performance in 2019 https://tmsnrt.rs/2PJzsGq
Asian companies Q2 earnings miss https://tmsnrt.rs/2zNvZMb
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