Asian markets spooked by US-China tech row

Trump's ban on US transactions with China's Tencent and owner of TikTok could trigger retaliation from Beijing: analysts

Published Fri, Aug 7, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Asia Stocks

Singapore

ASIA markets fell on Friday following a knee-jerk reaction towards President Donald Trump's executive orders to ban United States transactions with China's tech giant Tencent and ByteDance, the owner of video-sharing app TikTok.

The move, which came shortly after the tightening of auditing rules for Chinese firms listed in the US, added onto simmering tensions between the two. This temporarily offset earlier optimism from positive updates on Covid-19 vaccine and US stimulus package.

Against this backdrop, investors may start to assess the risks of the technological dispute spilling over into existing areas of conflict, Phillip Securities investment specialist Yeap Jun Rong told The Business Times …