Not to forget SGX is also presently at loggerheads with the National Stock Exchange of India over its attempt to roll out new derivative products to counter the loss of Nifty 50 futures contracts.............

THE fear factor reigned in Asian markets on Wednesday on the back of new and old worries: Italy's political commotion re-ignited the prospects of a euro zone existential crisis, amid a risk-riddled trading environment already spooked by US-China trade tensions, geopolitics and rising US interest rates.

The steep overnight losses in Wall Street and European stocks took a toll on markets. Investors ran for the hills with the euro plunging to levels not seen since July 2017, and Italy's borrowing costs rose even as fellow euro zone member Spain faced a political crisis of its own, with a no-confidence motion against its premier building up. It was an echo of 2011/12, the Greek debt crisis, during which there was a spike in bond yields, including that in Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Asian markets were a sea of red on the back of contagion fears, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares tumbling 1.5 per cent.

The markets were further spooked by escalating US-China trade tensions after US President Donald Trump announced that a list involving US$50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports will be released in mid-June, with duties to be imposed "shortly thereafter". The statement came merely 10 days after Chinese and US officials issued a joint statement with a "positive tone" on the trade issue.

Singapore's Straits Times Index shed 2.12 per cent - its third fall of 2 per cent in a 10-week span - while China's Shanghai Composite tumbled 2.5 per cent and South Korea's Kospi retreated 2 per cent.

None was as hard hit as Malaysia, which tumbled 3 per cent.

There was also a sell-off among Asian currencies, with the Philippine peso being the hardest hit, slipping to a near 12-year low.

More at https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/italian-crisis-and-us-china-trade-rift-roil-asian-markets-0