Asian Shares Fall As Trade Tensions Weigh

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday despite China's GDP growth and other key economic data coming in above estimates.

Tariff worries persisted as China moved to halt Boeing purchases amid tariff tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump issued a pointed message, saying China should approach the U.S. for a trade deal to ease tariffs because it relies heavily on American consumers.

"The ball is in China's court," the president said in a statement read at the White House briefing.

Meanwhile, as the tariff war heats up, China today appointed Li Chenggang as vice minister of commerce and a top representative for international trade negotiation, replacing Wang Shouwen.

China's Shanghai Composite index edged up by 0.26 percent to 3,276 after official data showed China's economy grew more than expected in the first quarter despite trade tariff disputes.

GDP grew 5.4 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. This was better than economists' forecast of 5.1 percent and was unchanged from the previous quarter.

In March, retail sales moved up 5.9 percent from the previous year while economists had forecast sales to climb 4.2 percent. Industrial production advanced 7.7 percent from a year ago compared to forecast of 5.7 percent.

Fixed asset investment increased 4.2 percent in the January to March period while economists had forecast an expansion of 4.1 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.91 percent to 21,056.98 amid rising U.S.-China tension. Hong Kong Post said today it had suspended goods mail services by sea to the United States and will suspend its air mail postal service for items containing goods from April 27 due to "bullying" U.S. tariffs.

Japanese markets fell sharply, with tech stocks coming under pressure after chipmaker Nvidia said the U.S. put new restrictions on some chip exports to China.

The Nikkei average dropped 1.01 percent to 33,920.40 while the broader Topix index settled 0.61 percent lower at 2,498.03. Advantest slumped percent, Tokyo Electron gave up 1.5 percent and SoftBank lost 2.5 percent.

Seoul stocks fell sharply, with the Kospi average declining 1.21 percent to 2,447.43 following Washington's decision to restrict Nvidia's artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports to China. Samsung Electronics tumbled 3.4 percent and SK Hynix shed 3.7 percent.

Australian markets ended a choppy session marginally lower, with mining and tech stocks facing setbacks from global trade tensions.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index rose 0.47 percent to 12,067.92.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending modestly lower overnight despite better-than-expected first-quarter earnings from Bank of America and Citigroup.

An uneasy calm prevailed as the Mexican government halted U.S. fuel imports sent into the country by road and China ordered its airlines not to take further deliveries of Boeing jets in retaliation against U.S. tariffs.

The Dow shed 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally lower.