Asian markets swing as nervous traders eye trade rows

Asian markets fluctuated on Tuesday with investors moving cautiously as they await the latest developments in Donald Trump's trade spats with China and Canada.

With US markets closed for the Labor Day holiday, there were few catalysts to drive business though dealers remain nervous after Trump said he wanted to impose fresh tariffs ion a huge swathe of Chinese goods by the end of this week.

There is also growing nervousness about emerging market currencies, with Argentina's peso and the Turkish lira continuing to take a battering.

In early trade Hong Kong was up 0.1 percent and Shanghai added 0.2 percent while Tokyo ended the morning 0.1 percent lower.

Singapore rose 0.2 percent and Seoul was up 0.1 percent, while there were also gains in Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta. However, Sydney slipped 0.3 percent.

Dealers are now keeping a close eye on Trump's next move after he said last week he wanted to impose tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports as soon as public consultation ends on Thursday, adding to the $50 billion already targeted.

Also, U.S and Canadian officials are still due to resume talks Wednesday on a revised NAFTA deal, after they failed to reach an agreement last week. That led Trump to tweet that he would leave his northern neighbors out of a final pact. Mexico and the US have already struck a deal.

Friday then sees the release of key US jobs data, which could give a clue to the Federal Reserve's plans for raising interest rates.

(APP)