Asian shares pull back on report U.S. may sanction Chinese officials

Asian shares were mostly lower following a report that the U.S. is preparing to slap sanctions on a dozen more Chinese officials, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing.

Asian shares

• After a strong start, Asian shares fell back, especially in China. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, -1.22% dropped 1.7%.
• The Shanghai Composite index SHCOMP, -0.82% sank 0.7% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, -0.29% edged down 0.1%.
• The Nikkei 225 NIK, -0.76% in Tokyo lost 0.6%.
• South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +0.51% inched up 0.2% and in Australia.
• S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.62% added 0.6%. Stocks fell in Singapore STI, 0.11%, but rose in Taiwan Y9999, +0.88% and Indonesia JAKIDX, 1.87%.

Oil Prices

• In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil CLF21, -0.63% lost 23 cents to $46.03 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
• It gained 62 cents to $46.26 per barrel on Friday.
• Brent crude BRNG21, -0.51%, the international standard, declined 23 cents to $49.02 per barrel.

Currency Markets