Asian stocks continue to slide as trade talks loom

Major stock markets across Asia continued their downward slide on Thursday, after President Donald Trump renewed his attack on China ahead of trade talks between the two countries.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index sank nearly 2%, while the Shanghai Composite Index and Japan’s Nikkei Index dropped around 1%.

Trump slammed China during a rally in Florida Wednesday evening, saying he decided to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods because China “broke the deal.” The increased tariffs will take effect just after midnight on Friday, the Trump administration confirmed earlier this week.

China said Wednesday that it would retaliate if Washington goes ahead with the tariff increases. A delegation led by the Chinese government’s top trade negotiator, Liu He, will travel to Washington for the talks on Thursday.

The uncertainty around the deal and the possibility of a damaging US-China trade war being reignited has rattled investors. Chinese stocks, in particular, have plunged more than 7% so far this week.

US stocks had another volatile day of trading Wednesday, with the Dow closing slightly higher while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the day lower after spending much of the day in positive territory. European stocks were mixed.

Thursday could be another roller coaster ride on Wall Street, with US stock futures all pointing downward.