HSI Loses Over 1,000 Points After Trump Tirade

Hong Kong shares finished with big losses on Monday on fears of a renewed China-US trade war after Donald Trump hit out at Beijing over its handling of the coronavirus crisis.

The Hang Seng Index dived 4.2 percent, or 1,029 points, to close at 23,613.

Mainland markets and Tokyo were closed for a holiday.

Stocks fell in Across Asia as investors returned from an extended weekend break to the news of further escalation of China-US tensions.

"President Trump is back beating the trade war drums ... and increasing the odds of a significant volatility risk event as all roads lead back to trade and tariff," said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes.

He added that "while the market is already factoring in a less globalised world during the initial phase of the post-pandemic recovery as economies internalise, rekindling a dormant US-China trade war will likely make any economic improvement exponentially more difficult. And ripping up the trade agreement will trigger a global equity market rout".

Seoul, Taipei, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta were all down more than 2 percent, and Mumbai was off 5 percent.

But Sydney added more than 1 percent and Wellington was also in positive territory as Australia and New Zealand begin easing measures to contain Covid-19.