Asian Stocks Drop as the U.S.-China Trade War Worsens

BEIJING — Asian markets opened broadly lower on Monday after a tumultuous weekend of events that further clouded prospects for a foreseeable end to the trade war between the United States and China.

Stocks in Hong Kong, where weekend clashes between the police and anti-government demonstrators grew increasingly violent, opened more than 3 percent lower. Shares in Tokyo opened more than 2 percent lower.

Futures markets indicated that European markets and Wall Street alike would open lower on Monday as well.

China’s currency weakened to a new 11-year low against the American dollar, a threshold it has crossed with some frequency since Beijing allowed it to weaken past the psychologically important level of 7 renminbi to the dollar this month. The weakened renminbi indicates concern over the slowing of the Chinese economy, though it also helps Chinese factories because a weaker currency makes their goods more attractive in other countries.

The market moves followed a sharp decline on Friday as Wall Street notched its fourth weekly loss in a row, unsettled by the rapidly intensifying trade war between the United States and China. Business groups over the weekend warned of the risks to workers and companies if the tariff war spirals.

Given the escalating threats, growing numbers of experts do not foresee an end to the trade war until after next year’s elections in the United States.

“Going forward, it is not clear to us what may lead the U.S. administration to stop the escalation and try to reach a deal with China,” Tao Wang, the chief China economist for UBS, the Swiss bank, said in a note to investors. Ms. Wang cited the Trump administration’s sense that a tough stance with China is politically popular and could spur the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low.

The Chinese state news media reiterated Beijing’s pledge to defy from the United States even as it kept open the possibility of further negotiations. On Sunday, an article in the People’s Daily newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, said that the leadership will continue to take a tough line.

“China is confident in the path it is taking and in managing its own affairs, will counteract any provocation from the U.S. side and will never waver,” it said.

But on Monday, Liu He, China’s top trade negotiator, told a business conference in the city of Chongqing that the government welcomed further talks.

“We are willing to resolve the issue through consultation and cooperation with a calm attitude,” he said, according to a transcript, “and we resolutely oppose the escalation of the trade war.”

The most recent round of intensification began on Friday, when Beijing announced plans to retaliate against Mr. Trump’s plan to impose more tariffs. Mr. Trump vowed to impose even more tariffs in return and told American businesses to leave China.

On Sunday at the Group of 7 summit in France he appeared to send mixed signals on his confrontation, with the White House eventually saying the president’s “second thoughts” were that he hadn’t raised tariffs enough.

Mr. Trump has also unsettled investors by publicly criticizing the Federal Reserve’s top official. Early in Friday’s trading day, investors had found reassurance in a speech by Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, who said that the Fed remained willing to cut interest rates to keep the economy growing. But he also suggested that central bank policies could only do so much to counteract Mr. Trump’s trade policies.

That angered the president, who wrote a swift response on Twitter: “My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?” In another tweet, Mr. Trump said American companies were “hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China.” Stocks slid for the rest of the day.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.6 percent. And after the market closed, Mr. Trump said he would increase existing tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods to 30 percent from 25 percent, beginning Oct. 1. He also said the United States would tax a further $300 billion in Chinese imports at a rate of 15 percent, rather than the 10 percent he had initially planned to go into effect in September.

The trade war has weighed on stocks in the last month. As recently as July 26, the S&P 500 was up almost 21 percent for the year. But after four weeks of losses, investors are holding a more modest 13.6 percent gain.

Hong Kong shares had moderated their losses by midday, with the Hang Seng Index down 2.8 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index was down 1.6 percent.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 1 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi index was down 1.3 percent.

The renminbi was trading within China at about 7.15 to the American dollar midday on Monday in Asia.