Stocks, metals feel the heat as new US-China trade war rattles markets

Shanghai markets were hardest hit overnight, with stocks there down almost 2 per cent and the yuan weakening towards last week's 11-month lows, down 0.4 per cent to 6.66 per dollar

Stocks fell and metals prices slumped to their lowest in a year on Wednesday, as US threats of tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods pushed the world’s two biggest economies ever closer to a full-scale trade war.
 
The detailing overnight of US President Donald Trump’s already-threatened 10 per cent tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods dampened hopes that Washington will eventually step back from the escalating row.
 
The clock now starts ticking on a two-month period of public comment before the levies get imposed. Trump has said he may ultimately target