Tokyo: Stocks fall on renewed US-China trade war fears

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks closed lower Monday on renewed fears of escalation in the US-China trade war and its impact on the global economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.41 per cent, or 84.18 points, to 20,620.19, while the broader Topix index was down 0.44 per cent, or 6.65 points, at 1,505.21.

The United States and China imposing new tariffs on each other's exports on Sunday "overturned" last week's optimism on the trade talks, Masayuki Kubota, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities, said in a note.

"Fears of a global economic slowdown due to tit-for-tat sanctions are likely to continue for a while."

Washington moved ahead Sunday with new tariffs on Chinese imports as it stepped up a high-pressure campaign aimed at coercing Beijing to sign a new trade deal.

The additional tariffs affected a portion of the US$300 billion in goods from the Asian giant that so far had been spared.

Beijing said it will retaliate by targeting US$75 billion in US goods, beginning in part on September 1.

REUTERS