Asia-Pacific markets fell on Wednesday as investors brace themselves for U.S. President Donald Trump's country-specific tariffs that are set to come into effect midnight stateside.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 1.06%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 3.14%, while the Topix traded 3.26% lower. South Korea's Kospi edged 0.18% lower while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.44%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 3.86%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index declined 5.42%.
Additional tariffs will take effect just after U.S. midnight, adding to the 10% baseline duty that was already implemented on Saturday. Chinese goods will now face a cumulative tariff rate of 104%, the White House confirmed.
Investors will also be keeping an eye out for Reserve Bank of India's decision later in the day. India' central bank is expected to deliver a second straight rate cut today, according to economists polled by Reuters, which will bring its policy rate to 6%.
Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 320.01 points, or 0.84%, and closed at 37,645.59, bringing its four-day loss on tariff angst to more than 4,500 points. Apple led the losses with the iPhone maker's costs set to surge with new China tariffs.
The S&P 500 declined 1.57% to end at 4,982.77. The index was inches away from closing in a bear market, down nearly 19% from its February record, and it ended the session below 5,000 for the first time since April 2024. Over the past four days, the S&P 500 has fallen more than 12%.
Source: CNBC
US stocks closed sharply lower on Friday as a Broadcom-led rout among the largest tech weights sparked a rotation into cyclicals and defensive names. The S&P 500 fell 1% and the Dow gave back 0.4%...
Europe's benchmark index dropped on Friday, retreating from the edge of a record high as a selloff in US technology stocks weighed on global gauges. The Stoxx Europe 600 declined 0.5%, reversing...
The STOXX 50 rose 0.5% and the STOXX 600 gained 0.3% on Friday, marking a second consecutive session of increases and tracking global optimism after the Federal Reserve cut the fed funds rate and stru...
Asian stocks opened higher on Friday (December 12) morning after Wall Street and global equity indexes set new records. The MSCI Asia Stock Index rose about 0.5% early in the session, with the Japanes...
The Dow jumped more than 600 points to a fresh record and the S&P 500 reversed early session losses to trade marginally higher, while the Nasdaq pared losses to roughly 0.5% on Thursday afternoon ...
The US dollar remains sluggish after experiencing intense pressure following the Fed's decision to cut interest rates by 25 bps. The US Dollar Index (DXY) remains in the lower zone and is trending lower weekly, as market participants assess the...
Gold (XAU/USD) advances modestly on Friday as traders seem to book profits ahead of the weekend, yet clings to gains of over 0.51% after reaching a seven-week high of $4,353 as traders digest comments from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials. Bullion...
US stocks closed sharply lower on Friday as a Broadcom-led rout among the largest tech weights sparked a rotation into cyclicals and defensive names. The S&P 500 fell 1% and the Dow gave back 0.4% after touching record highs, while the Nasdaq...
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Tuesday there is "plenty of room" to cut interest rates further, though he noted that rising...
Federal Reserve (Fed) officials are expected to cut interest rates again on Wednesday, marking the third consecutive rate cut. However, many...
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said that it would start buying short-dated government bonds to help manage market liquidity levels to ensure the...
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates on Wednesday as policymakers grapple with a data gap caused by the recent government...