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Trader Gregory Rowe works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines in Europe and Asia, after Washington threatened to expand tariffs on Beijing and China said it would retaliate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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Specialist Anthony Rinaldi works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines in Europe and Asia, after Washington threatened to expand tariffs on Beijing and China said it would retaliate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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Trader Michael Urkonis, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines in Europe and Asia, after Washington threatened to expand tariffs on Beijing and China said it would retaliate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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Trader Sal Suarino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines in Europe and Asia, after Washington threatened to expand tariffs on Beijing and China said it would retaliate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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Trader Phyllis Arena Woods works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines in Europe and Asia, after Washington threatened to expand tariffs on Beijing and China said it would retaliate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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Specialists Dilip Patel, left, and Patrick Murphy work at their posts on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines in Europe and Asia, after Washington threatened to expand tariffs on Beijing and China said it would retaliate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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Robert Charmak, left, works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines in Europe and Asia, after Washington threatened to expand tariffs on Beijing and China said it would retaliate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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Trader Jonathan Corpina works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines in Europe and Asia, after Washington threatened to expand tariffs on Beijing and China said it would retaliate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Stocks sink as trade war heats up with new tariff threats

By Associated Press AP

PUBLISHED 1:53 PM ET May. 09, 2019

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Thursday following Wall Street's decline amid U.S.-Chinese trade tensions and oil prices recovered some of the previous day's steep losses.

KEEPING SCORE: The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1 percent to 2,809.42 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 1.2 percent to 22,181.13. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added 0.7 percent to 6,258.00 and Seoul's Kospi advanced 0.4 percent to 2,289.31. Benchmarks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia also rose. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was unchanged at 28,309.61. New Zealand declined.

TRADE TENSION: China's government said it will take "firm and forceful measures" if the Trump administration goes ahead with its threat of tariff hikes on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods. President Donald Trump has threatened to raise duties on almost everything Americans buy from China. Beijing is running out of American goods for retaliatory tariffs due to its lopsided trade balance, which means it might impose other measures.

ANALYST'STAKE: China's strong language but lack of detail is "leaving the market on edge," said Jingyi Pan of IG in a report. With no sign Washington and Beijing are resuming negotiations, "it is of little surprise to find investors pondering the 'firm and forceful measures' that China has pledged."

WALL STREET: Companies that sell computer chips, oil, basic materials and heavy machinery dropped after the Trump administration's tariff threat. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 0.7 percent to 2,774.02. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9 percent to 24,700.75. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.5 percent to 7,716.61.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 37 cents to $70.75 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $3.27 on Wednesday to close at $70.38. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained $1.25 to $75.65 per barrel in London. It lost $5.36 the previous session to $73.40.

CURRENCY: The dollar gained to 112.27 yen from Wednesday's 111.99 yen. The euro edged up to $1.1675 from $1.1673.

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