KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 3): The FBM KLCI dipped 6.08 points or 0.33% as escalating US-China trade war concerns weighed upon Asian shares.

At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,813.58 points. In China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite closed down 0.17% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.63%. Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.69% while South Korea's Kospi was 0.68% lower.

Reuters reported that Asian stocks dropped for the third consecutive session on Monday, hit by worries over further escalation of the US-China trade war and unstable emerging market currencies. It was reported that US President Donald Trump said last week he was ready to implement the new tariffs as soon as a public comment period on the plan ends on Thursday, which would be a major escalation given the US has already applied tariffs on US$50 billion of exports from China.

In China today, it was reported that Chinese stocks fell on Monday as a private survey showed China’s manufacturing growth slowed to a 14-month low in August, and as the threat of new tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese exports to the US brought trade war fears back into focus.

In Malaysia, Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong told theedgemarkets.com that while the US-China trade war has impacted  markets, Italy’s fiscal plans and the UK's ongoing Brexit concerns have added more uncertainties to markets.

“I believe they (global matters) will come to a resolution soon but the market needs more clarity. I expect the market to trend like this in the next two to three weeks which is usually the case in September. The market is expected to pick up at the end of the quarter as we see some window dressing and with the announcement of (Malaysia's) Budget 2019 in October. Till then, it could be choppy,” Wong said.