Manic Monday looms as Trump's trade tantrum intensifies

Asian equities' resilience to a trade confrontation between the U.S. and China will be tested Monday after a flurry of truculent Trump trade pronouncements. Not only will China's markets return after a two-day break, but Xi Jinping is due to deliver a speech Tuesday at the Boao Forum for Asia -- China’s answer to Davos.

Asia's major bourses are poised to open down, index futures indicated when they closed early Saturday morning local time, and there has been little over the weekend that would mitigate against that. Of course, the early gains in U.S. futures could indicate traders are ready to favor stocks if there's a lack of immediate response from China. After all, the mixed signals out of Washington may signal that this is all just part of the art of the deal.

Also on the radar today is Japan's Feb. current-account data, which economists estimate will reveal the biggest surplus since Sept. And Haruhiko Kuroda will be speaking in Tokyo at the start of his second term. Looking ahead, inflation data from China, Japan and the U.S. will be in focus, as will testimony to Congress from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and the FOMC minutes.

Source: Bloomberg Pro Terminal

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