Stocks in Asia were lower in Tuesday morning trade on the back of fresh concerns over a slowing Chinese economy and renewed tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to Beijing's ongoing trade war with Washington, slipped in early trade. The Shanghai composite declined about 1.13 percent and the Shenzhen component slipped more than 1.7 percent. The Shenzhen composite also fell 2.33 percent.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.75 percent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped nearly 1 percent in morning trade while the Topix index shed 0.72 percent, with shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group declining almost 1 percent. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5 percent as industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics' stock shed almost 1 percent.
The ASX 200 slipped 0.55 percent, with most sectors seeing losses. The heavily weighted financial subindex declined 1.68 percent as shares of Australia's Big Four banks saw losses. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group fell 2 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 1.25 percent, Westpac shed 2.4 percent while National Australia Bank declined nearly 2 percent.
US seeks extradition of Huawei CFO
The U.S. Department of Justice filed filed criminal charges on Monday to officially request the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
Stocks in Asia were lower in Tuesday morning trade on the back of fresh concerns over a slowing Chinese economy and renewed tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to Beijing's ongoing trade war with Washington, slipped in early trade. The Shanghai composite declined about 1.13 percent and the Shenzhen component slipped more than 1.7 percent. The Shenzhen composite also fell 2.33 percent.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.75 percent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped nearly 1 percent in morning trade while the Topix index shed 0.72 percent, with shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group declining almost 1 percent. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5 percent as industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics' stock shed almost 1 percent.
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The ASX 200 slipped 0.55 percent, with most sectors seeing losses. The heavily weighted financial subindex declined 1.68 percent as shares of Australia's Big Four banks saw losses. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group fell 2 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 1.25 percent, Westpac shed 2.4 percent while National Australia Bank declined nearly 2 percent.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed filed criminal charges on Monday to officially request the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.US seeks extradition of Huawei CFO
The Justice Department also announced charges Monday against Huawei for allegedly stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile. The charges stem from a civil trade secrets lawsuit filed by T-Mobile in 2014 over a robot called "Tappy," which was used in testing smartphones.
"Huawei and its senior executives repeatedly refused to respect U.S. law," said FBI Director Christopher Wray, in Monday's press conference. "Huawei ... systematically sought to steal valuable trade secrets."
Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei's founder and president Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on Dec. 1 in Vancouver. Her arrest sparked a series of tense exchanges between China and Canada over the possibility that she could be transferred to the U.S.
"The timing is certainly interesting given the upcoming discussions this week in D.C., but I think we have to take a step back and view this as part of a larger effort within the Justice Department, in particular, to focus on what it sees as misbehavior on the part of Chinese firms and individuals in the United States for a variety of reasons," Robert Williams, executive director at the Paul Tsai China Center in Yale Law School, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.
The latest development came ahead of a new round of high level trade negotiations between the two economic powerhouses locked in an ongoing trade war. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is set to visit Washington on Wednesday for a two-day meeting with the U.S. delegation led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
"I don't think we can say that this is directly tied to the trade negotiations in that kind of transactional way. That's just not the way the U.S. law enforcement system works, it's not the way the Justice department works. These criminal investigations began long before the current trade negotiations. So I think we have to view it in that context," Williams said.
Fresh concerns over China's economy
In overnight market action on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 208.98 points to close at 24,528.22 while the S&P 500 slipped 0.8 percent to finish its trading day at 2,643.85. The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1 percent to close at 7,085.68.
The losses stateside were led by weak guidance from Caterpillar and Nvidia, which stoked fears about the Chinese economy slowing even as Beijing has been seeking to stimulate an economy which has shown signs of slowing growth.
Caterpillar, considered a bellwether for global trade given the company's exposure to overseas markets, cited lower demand in China for its decline in sales in the Asia/Pacific region.
Chipmaker Nvidia, meanwhile, said "deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, particularly in China," impacted demand for its graphics processing units.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.778 after seeing highs above 95.9 yesterday.
The Japanese yen, a safe-haven currency, traded at 109.18 against the dollar after touching lows around 109.5 yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7145 after seeing highs around the $0.72 handle in the previous session.
