US-Chinese trade, Chinese economic data, currencies in the spotlight

Asian stocks are expected to drop on Monday as investors remain concerned over escalating trade war between China and the US last week.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States would put 10% tariff on $ 300 billion worth of Chinese goods as of September 1st. This announcement has shaken the global stock markets.

Futures contracts indicated lower opening for Japanese equities on Monday morning. The Nikkei Chicago futures contract rose to 20,895, while its counterpart in Osaka was trading at 20,900. The Nikkei 225 benchmark closed at 21,087.16 after falling more than 2% Friday.

Australian equities were also on the brink of a decline in opening, with SPI's futures contract setting at 6,708.0. This was slightly lower than the last closing of the S & P / ASX 200, at 6,768.60.

At the same time, investors will monitor market reactions in Hong Kong in the form of a general strike to bring the city to a break scheduled for Monday.

Regarding economic data, the Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index for Services in China is expected at 9:45 HK / SIN.

The sadness of trade between Washington and Beijing last week propelled the S & P 500 in the United States in its worst fall in 2019, with a decline of 3.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its second worst week of the year, down 2.6%.

In response to Trump's latest salvo, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday that the country did not want a trade war with the United States, but did not fear to conduct one.

The evolution of the US-China trade war has been affecting the markets for more than a year, and encouraging signs have shown that the proliferation of additional tariffs on both sides has a real impact on the world's economies. whole.

The US dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of peers, stood at 98.106 after levels above 98.7 last week.

The Japanese yen traded at 106.55 against the dollar, after being strengthened against levels above 108.8 during the previous trading week. Elsewhere, the Australian dollar has changed hands at $ 0.6794 after falling to a high of over $ 0.688 last week.

Here is an overview of the data to publish:

• China: Caixin Services Purchasing Managers Index at 9:45 HK / SIN

– Fred Imbert of CNBC contributed to this report.