Asian Shares Skid As Trade War Deepens

(Reuters) Asian shares sank on Monday as the latest salvos in the Sino-U.S. trade war shook confidence in the world economy and sent investors steaming to the safe harbor of sovereign bonds and gold while slugging emerging market currencies. People walk past an electronic board showing Japans Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo Japan October 15 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai But equity markets later pared some losses with E-Minis for the S&P 500 turning positive after U.S. President Donald Trump said China had contacted Washington overnight to say it wanted to return to the negotiating table. Speaking on the sidelines of a summit of major industrialized nations in France Trump hailed Chinese President Xi Jinping as a great leader and said he welcomed his desire for a trade deal and for calm. Despite the positive lead for Wall Street European stock markets still looked set to follow Asias slide with EUROSTOXX 50 futures down about 1 German DAX futures slipping 0.9 and Frances CAC 40 futures stumbling 0.7.