Asian markets decline as Trump threatens 10 percent European tariffs

Asian shares were mostly lower Tuesday after US markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr Day a national holiday US future were down sharply after most European benchmarks sank on Monday Oil prices were flatWorld shares took a hit after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 10 percent extra tariff on imports from eight European countries provoking a backlash from important trading partners that invest heavily in the USTokyos benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 11 percent to 5298824 after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called a snap election for Feb 8 The yields on Japan government bonds have been surging after Takaichi indicated she planned to dissolve parliament and hold an election aiming to capitalize on her strong public opinion ratings She also has proposed temporarily suspending the food taxExpectations that Takaichi will take a renewed electoral mandate to raise government spending have revived worries over Japans national finances pushing the yield sharply higher while prices of such investments declined The yield on the 40year government bond surged to a record 4 percent on Tuesday while yields on other longterm bonds also have surging to decadeshigh levelsChinese markets also declined Hong Kongs Hang Seng edged down less than 01 percent to 2655257 while the Shanghai Composite fell 03 percent to 410162In South Korea the Kospi gained 03 percent to 492142 while Australias SampPASX 200 lost 06 percent to 881810 Taiwans Taiex edged 01 percent higher and the Sensex in India was unchangedThis week will bring more corporate earnings in the US and an update on inflation preferred by the Federal Reserve for making policy decisions The US Federal Reserves next policy meeting is in two weeks Its expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged as it strives to balance a slowing jobs market with inflation which remains above the Feds 2 percent goal The Bank of Japan has a monetary policy board meeting ending later this weekGermanys DAX lost 13 percent to close at 2496033 and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 19 percent to 810196 Britains FTSE 100 declined 04 percent to 1019026 Among US stock futures the SampP 500 was down 1 percent early Tuesday while the contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 09percentTrump said Saturday that he would charge a 10 percent import tax starting in February on goods from Denmark Norway Sweden France Germany the United Kingdom the Netherlands and Finland because of their opposition to American control of Greenland The European countries targeted by Trump blasted his threat to raise tariffs saying they undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiralIn other dealings early Tuesday US benchmark crude oil rose 4 cents to dollar 5938 per barrel Brent crude the international standard added 12 cents to dollar 6406 a barrel The US dollar slipped to 15798 Japanese yen from 15814 yen The euro rose to dollar 11658 inching up from dollar 11645This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever