The US Trade Representative's office on Wednesday reaffirmed President Donald Trump's plans to impose an additional 5% tariff on a list of $300 billion of Chinese imports starting on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will suspend Britain's parliament for more than a month before Brexit, limiting the time opponents have to derail a disorderly Brexit.
Bond markets around the world painted a gloomier picture, with yields on 30-year US Treasuries and 10-year German bunds yield both hitting record lows - 1.905% and minus 0.716% on Wednesday. The CSI300 real estate index was the biggest loser, slumping 2.6% after a local media report said that multiple banks were required to tighten real estate development loans from Thursday.
Banking stocks also softened following a report that China is considering new rules for the country's small-to-medium financial institutions to reduce risk in the wider economy. The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Sumec Corp Ltd, up 10.1%, followed by Xinhuanet Co Ltd, gaining 10.03% and Zhejiang Dehong Automotive Electronic & Electrical Co Ltd , up by 10.02%.
The biggest percentage loser in the Shanghai index were Nanjing OLO Home Furnishing Co Ltd down 6.07%, followed by Guangdong Champion Asia Electronics Co Ltd and Tibet Summit Resources Co Ltd losing 5.8% and 5.67%, respectively. About 17.86 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 111.9% of the market's 30-day moving average of 15.96 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 18.31 billion.