Asian stocks tumbled further on Monday as a broad market sell-off deepened amid an escalating global trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement last week.
Stocks in Japan, China, and Hong Kong led regional declines, while broader markets across South Korea, Singapore, and Australia also retreated sharply.
Monday’s sell-off followed a dismal session on Wall Street on Friday, where major U.S. indexes plummeted. Most Asian stocks suffered weekly losses.
U.S. stock index futures also fell sharply in Asian trading on Monday, leading to fears the markets will witness another “Black Monday” – as seen in 1987 – when markets around the world crashed.
Global markets rattle as Trump trade war escalates
Trump’s tariffs announced on April 2, included a blanket 10% duty on all imports, alongside higher, targeted levies of up to 49% on some nations.
China now faces a combined 54% tariffs, with the 20% duties already in place.
Beijing also retaliated with a sweeping 34% tariff on a wide swath of U.S. imports, including agricultural products, energy commodities, and key tech components.
Meanwhile, President Trump said on Sunday that his new tariffs are the only way to fix major trade deficits with China and the European Union, declaring that duties will stay in place.
The tit-for-tat tariffs have rattled global markets and stoked fears of a deeper slowdown in global trade.
China, Japan, and South Korea, which count the U.S. among their top export destinations, could be hit hard as demand for their goods could weaken amid higher prices and retaliatory trade measures.
Japan hits 17-mth low, China reaches 6-mth trough, Australia at 1-yr low
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index slumped as much as 9% on Monday, reaching its lowest level since early November 2023. The index was trading 6.5% lower as of 02:25 GMT.
Japan’s broader TOPIX index also slid more than 8%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined as much as 6.5% to reach a one-year low on Monday.
In China, the blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index declined nearly 6%, while the Shanghai Composite also shed 6%. Both indexes reached their lowest level since late September 2024.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunged more than 9% to its lowest level since early February
Other regional markets were also sharply lower.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 7%, while the Philippines’ PSEi Composite lost 4%.
Futures for India’s Nifty 50 fell more than 1% on Monday.
Source : Investing