Asian stock markets slumped on Monday and U.S. equity futures pointed sharply lower after U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China triggered fears of a broad trade war and hit to global growth. The U.S. dollar shot to a record high against the Chinese yuan in offshore trading, and jumped to the highest since 2003 against Canada's currency and the strongest since 2022 versus Mexico's peso. Source: Reuters
The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 2.2% to around 38,700, while the broader Topix Index fell 2% to 2,730 on Monday, reaching their lowest levels in about two weeks. This decline came after President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on key US trading partners over the weekend. The US introduced a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada and a 10% levy on imports from China, raising concerns about the potential disruption to global trade. Meanwhile, a summary of opinions from the Bank of Japan's January meeting revealed discussions about possible interest rate hikes due to ongoing...
China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly declined for a second straight month in January, underlining the need for Beijing to step up economic stimulus with Donald Trump slapping tariffs on the country's exports. The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 50.1 from 50.5 in December, according to a statement released by Caixin and S&P Global on Monday. While any reading above 50 indicates an expansion of activity, the figure was well below the median forecast of 50.6 by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The results of the private survey compare with last month's sharp...