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Stock markets falter as Trump tariffs spark trade war fears

World stock markets faltered on Monday as traders eyed trade war fears and EU rifts over migration.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said that "the latest twist in the US-China tariffs tiff last Friday continued to define trading".

With major indices shut in Asia for public holidays, Monday's trading focus was on Europe and in particular the eurozone.

Frankfurt and Paris equities slid on Monday "with political tensions in Germany rising over an argument about migration", noted Campbell.

The euro fell versus the dollar but managed to avoid fresh 11-month lows reached on Friday.

Tokyo's stock market earlier closed down almost 1%, while Shanghai and Hong Kong were closed.

Fresh fears of a trade war between the world's top two economies have emerged after the United States and China imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars of imports.

US President Donald Trump's decision last week to hit China with 25% levies was met with an immediate retaliation, moving the two closer to a trade war that could potentially batter the global economy.

The announcement came despite weeks of talks between the two sides.

The developments sent stocks into the red across Europe and on Wall Street Friday, with Asian investors picking up the baton as the new week began.

Investors were looking ahead to Tuesday, when French President Emmanuel Macron heads to Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel and Macron both agree on the need for a Europe-wide response to migrants, and are hoping to hammer out a policy acceptable to all member states that would ease the burden on Italy, Greece and other main entry points.

With traders fleeing to safer assets, the yen rose against the dollar Monday.

Brent crude meanwhile rebounded after slumping last week, as investors fret over Russia and Saudi Arabia's expected agreement to ramp up output at an OPEC meeting that starts Friday.

The two major producers have kept a ceiling in place since late 2016, which has helped ease a supply glut and lift prices from multi-year lows.

Benjamin Lu, a commodities analyst at Phillip Futures Singapore, said crude was being weighed down also by trade war fears.

"We expect for global trade tensions to weigh on prices sporadically as populist sentiments pervade the financial markets," he noted.

"Enhanced volatility can be expected... as markets worry about the prospect of weaker trade activity, with economic battle lines being drawn."

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