Copper slumps

Manila: Copper prices slumped to their weakest level in a year and zinc fell to 13-month lows amid a broad selloff on Wednesday after the Trump administration said it would slap 10 percent tariffs on an extra $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

U.S. President Donald Trump´s latest tariff threat escalates an already deepening trade war between the world´s two biggest economies, fuelling risk aversion across assets from commodities to equities.

"Is Trump playing his strong hand or is he making good on his ultimatum to escalate trade war with Beijing, that is yet to be determined?," Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia Pacific at brokerage OANDA, said in a note. "But nonetheless, this is a very sobering reality check as to just how fragile sentiment around trade war rhetoric is and should keep markets trading defensively during Asia (hours).