Japanese stocks fell sharply Wednesday as US tariffs officially took effect, triggering broad market losses. The Nikkei 225 dropped 3.93% to 31,714, while the Topix Index declined 3.4% to 2,349, reversing gains from the previous session and mirroring overnight losses on Wall Street. The new measures include a 24% tariff on Japanese goods and a 25% levy on auto exports to the US. President Trump confirmed Japan will send a delegation to negotiate, while Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he urged Trump to reconsider the tariffs in a recent call. Financial and tech stocks led the selloff,...
European stocks opened lower on Wednesday, with markets struggling to maintain the positive momentum of the previous session as the U.S.′ country-specific tariffs started taking effect. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 2.55% lower shortly after the opening bell, with all sectors and major bourses firmly in negative territory. Regional banking, mining and oil and gas indexes led the losses, plummeting 3%, 3.9% and 3.6% respectively. Among Europe's major indexes, the French CAC 40 crashed 2.6%, while Germany's DAX was 2.1% lower during early morning trade, and the FTSE 100 lost...
The Hang Seng rose 137 points or 0.7% to close at 20,264 on Wednesday, snapping a two-day losing streak. The rebound came after early-session losses, driven by gains in tech, consumers, and property. Sentiment improved following Premier Li Qiang's remarks that Beijing is "fully capable of hedging against adverse external influences," including the newly imposed 104% U.S. import tariffs. A rally in mainland stocks also lifted the mood, as state-owned firms stepped in to support markets. Top Chinese brokerages pledged to stabilize share prices, and some listed companies launched stock buyback...