Hong Kong Stocks End Morning With Losses

Hong Kong shares edged down in Friday's morning session, after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on all Mexican imports, stoking anxiety among investors.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.2 percent to 27,066 by the break.

Stocks across the region were also down, despite modest gains on Wall Street overnight.

Trump's Twitter announcement of a five percent tariff on all goods from Mexico starting June 10 sent shares in automakers with plants in the North American country falling sharply.

The announcement saw shares in Japanese automakers plunge in early trade, with Honda dropping 3.8 percent to 2,665 yen, Mazda plummeting 6.3 percent to 1,071.5 yen, Nissan down 3.7 percent to 747.4 yen, and Toyota slipping 2.5 percent to 6,404 yen.

Tokyo's main index fell 0.8 percent, Singapore slipped 0.5 percent and Sydney was down 0.1 percent. Shanghai managed a 0.1 percent gain.

Coming amidst a protracted trade war between the United States and China, the latest tariffs announcement will do little to soothe investors' anxieties.

"Markets are getting nervous that we may not see anything constructive on the trade front until the June 28-29th G20 summit, where President Trump and his Chinese counterpart will meet on the sidelines", said OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya.

"The longer the trade war lasts, the greater the global growth deterioration," he said. (AFP)