GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares slide as Trump raises spectre of longer, wider trade war

* Trump flags delaying trade talks until after 2020 election
* Asian stocks follow Wall St lower, safe-havens rise
* ASX, Nikkei fall 1%
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Asian shares extended their
losses on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said a
trade deal with China might have to wait until after the 2020
presidential election, dashing hopes for a quick preliminary
agreement.
Fresh U.S. tariffs on Argentina and Brazil as well as
threatened duties on French goods also darkened the mood, as a
trade war that appeared to be winding down a week ago now looks
like ramping up.
Investors turned to safe-havens, boosting bond prices and
sending gold to a one-month high, while MSCI's broadest index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.9%.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 dropped 1.2%, matched by falls in
Hong Kong .HSI and Korea .KS200 , where stock markets hit
their lowest since October.
Shanghai blue chips .CSI300 fell 0.2% and Australia's
S&P/ASX200 .AXJO tumbled 1.7%, having shed almost 4% since
closing on Monday.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year US10YT=RR treasuries
fell as low as 1.6930% overnight, the sharpest fall since May.
It stood at 1.7242% on Wednesday.
"Suddenly you can feel the market," said Sean Taylor, chief
investment officer for Asia-Pacific at German asset management
firm DWS, calling trade the top threat to the global outlook.
"It just takes one or two comments and then a bad feeling
again," he said. "It's still quite uncertain."
Trump had told reporters in London that there is "no
deadline" for an agreement with China to end the tit-for-tat
tariff war, which the International Monetary Fund has said will
push global growth to its slowest in a decade.
"In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the
election for the China deal," he said.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said if no substantial
progress was made soon, another round of duties on Chinese
imports including cell phones, laptops and toys would take
effect on Dec. 15.
No high-level meetings are scheduled and the parties still
needed to sort out details about Chinese purchases of U.S. farm
products and an enforcement mechanism, he told Reuters.
That put the brakes on a rally that had lifted the S&P 500
almost 10% since early October, when top diplomats from China
and the United States met and outlined an initial agreement that
Trump said he hoped could be sealed within weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell by a percentage
point overnight, while the Nasdaq .IXIC half a percentage
point and the S&P 500 .SPX 0.66%.
"As if we needed a reminder, the market remains incredibly
sensitive to trade developments," said RBC Capital Markets'
Chief US Economist, Tom Porcelli. "The lack of urgency to cut a
deal was presented today as very real."
In currency markets China's yuan took a beating and there
was a flight to the safe-haven Japanese yen and to the Swiss
franc, which held just under a one-month high on Wednesday.
However the trade-exposed New Zealand dollar mostly held on
to gains won against the greenback after disappointing
manufacturing data weakened the U.S. currency on Monday.
"It might be that apart from the global risky stuff, the
market is thinking about the U.S. economy maybe slowing," said
Westpac FX analyst Imre Speizer.
"They're pricing a little bit more in for Fed cuts."
The dollar last traded for 108.65 yen JPY= , while a euro
bought $1.1081 EUR= . The Aussie slipped 0.2% to $0.6833 AUD=
after data showed Australia's September-quarter growth missed
forecasts. Gold XAU= held its poise at $1,477.29 per ounce.
Oil steadied after slipping overnight. Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 0.44% to $61.09 a barrel
while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained
0.45% to $56.35 per barrel.