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International markets fell on Monday over fears of an intensified world commerce battle forward of Donald Trump’s anticipated unveiling of a swath of additional tariffs.
Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong shares fell sharply, accelerating a sell-off that started final week, after US President Donald Trump mentioned the reciprocal tariffs he’s anticipated to announce on April 2 would apply globally.
“You’d begin with all nations,” Trump instructed reporters on board Air Drive One. “We’ll see what occurs.” He mentioned “each single nation in Asia” engaged in “unfair” commerce practices in direction of the US.
Japan’s benchmark Topix dropped 3.2 per cent and the exporter-oriented Nikkei 225 slid 3.9 per cent. In South Korea the Kospi fell 2.2 per cent. Hong Kong’s Grasp Seng dipped 0.4 per cent.
Gold hit a document $3,098 per troy ounce whereas US Treasury yields declined, in an indication that traders had been piling into secure property.
“Many traders are [waiting] for precise tariffs to be introduced, unwinding their positions and realising beneficial properties,” mentioned Wei Li, head of multi-asset technique for China at BNP Paribas Asset Administration. “This tariff announcement . . . has affected the entire market sentiment.”
Trump has billed April 2 as a ‘liberation day” for the US economic system however his plans to levy so-called reciprocal tariffs on nations that he judges have unfair commerce relationships with the US have alarmed traders.
In foreign money markets, the yen strengthened 0.4 per cent towards the greenback to ¥149.30 whereas the Korean gained was flat. The US greenback edged down 0.2 per cent towards a basket of key buying and selling companions.
The slides in Asia come after falls on Friday within the US, the place the S&P 500 dropped 2 per cent. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite slid 2.7 per cent as deteriorating economic data raised fears about stagflation.
