Asia-Pacific markets fell Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced fresh tariffs on furniture, heavy trucks and pharmaceutical products. Starting from Oct. 1, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and associated products will face a 50% tariff, while a 30% tariff will be charged for upholstered furniture, Trump said on Truth Social early Friday. Additionally, heavy trucks will be imposed a 25% levy. Meanwhile "any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product" faces 100% duties, except for companies that build drug manufacturing plants in the U.S., Trump added. Overnight in the U.S.,...
The Hang Seng Index started the day down by 212 points or 0.8%, closing at 26,272 points; the H-share index fell by 77 points or 0.82%, to 9,366 points; while the technology index dropped by 61 points or 0.96%, settling at 6,317 points. In the tech sector, Tencent saw a decline of 0.7%; Alibaba dropped by 2%; Meituan fell by 1.2%; Xiaomi Group was down by 0.7%; JD.com Group experienced a 1.6% decrease; and Kuaishou dropped by 0.1%. Financial stocks exhibited softness, with HSBC Holdings falling by 1.1%; AIA Insurance down by 0.4%; China Ping An declining by 0.7%; and Hong Kong Exchanges...
Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Transport and Communication sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.80%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (TYO:4901), which rose 3.56% or 128.00 points to trade at 3,727.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Japan Steel Works Ltd (TYO:5631) added 3.41% or 293.00 points to end at 8,889.00 and Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd. (TYO:8804) was up 3.29% or 96.00 points to 3,012.00 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Lasertec Corp...