Investing.com - Asian markets were mixed in morning trade on Friday. Chinese equities underperformed their regional peers and were down 2% as U.S. stocks tumbled for a second day.
The S&P 500 Index fell more than 2% for a second straight day and is now in its longest slide since 2016. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 500 points, and the NASDAQ Composite closed down 1.3%.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were down 1.8% and 2.4% respectively by 10:21 PM ET (02:21 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched 0.3% higher.
Citing two people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that U.S. treasury staffs had advised Secretary Steven Mnuchin that China is not manipulating its currency.
Despite U.S. Donald Trump’s promise to label China as a currency manipulator, the U.S. Treasury has refused to name China a manipulator in three separate reports since Trump took office last year.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.1%. ANZ Banking Group (AX:ANZ) was in focus after the company fired over 200 staff for wrongdoing.
"We should dismiss people when they are grossly negligent or when they do things that are clearly bad and cause customer harm," said ANZ Chief Executive Shayne Elliott on Friday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia warned that an escalation of the trade war between China and the U.S. is a growing threat to the global economy.
Downside risks to global growth “have become more prominent,” the central bank said in its twice-yearly Financial Stability Review. “Increasing trade protectionism poses a threat to the outlook.”
“Australia would be sensitive to a sharp contraction in global growth or dislocation in global financial markets because of the importance of trade and capital inflows,” the RBA said. “In the current environment, a range of possible triggers could precipitate a global economic downturn,” the RBA added.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.3% with a stronger yen cited as headwind for local equities. South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1.0%.