Asian stocks indexes struggled on Thursday after a rough day on Wall Street on Wednesday which culminated in losses in all three major indexes. Leading Wall Street’s losses was Snap which tanked 15 percent on Wednesday after reporting disappointing revenue. Tesla shares also plummeted 5 percent after the company’s Chief Executive, Elon Musk, refused to answer analysts’ questions about profit potential.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index suffered the largest losses, falling 1.29 percent as of 2:37 p.m. HK/SIN. The Nikkei 225 was down 0.16 percent at the same time and South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.70 percent. Australia’s ASX 200 and the Shanghai composite escaped the downtrend, gaining 0.80 percent and 0.70 percent respectively.
Weighing on Asian stocks were concerns about the trade negotiations taking place in Beijing on Thursday and Friday between high-level delegates from the United States and China. Though President Trump had tweeted about his optimism or the talks, traders remain wary as the U.S. delegates have threatened to leave China early if they feel the talks aren’t sufficiently productive. The Chinese have also been sending strong messages to the U.S. that they will not bow to U.S. demands easily or feel compelled to accept any offer that the U.S. makes.
European markets are poised to open lower as well, also pressured by the U.S.-China trade talks. Traders are also eyeing important earnings data which will be released on Thursday morning in Europe. Among the companies set to report are Axa, Adidas and Volkswagen.
There will also be other important data released on Thursday, including the spring economic forecasts from the European Commission and flash inflation numbers.