Asia-Pacific markets fell on Thursday, following Wall Street’s decline, as investors digested United States President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on auto imports.
By 11:25 am AEDT (12:25 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 were both down 0.6%, while South Korea's Kospi 200 dropped 0.7%.
U.S. futures edged lower after all three major Wall Street benchmarks retreated from two-week highs overnight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 132.7 points, or 0.3%, to 42,454.8. The S&P 500 lost 1.1% to finish at 5,712.2, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2% to 17,899.0.
In commodities, Brent crude rose 0.9% to a three-week high of US$73.06 per barrel, while spot gold eased 0.7% from record highs to trade at US$3,019.50 per ounce.
Chinese equities were lower, with the Shanghai Composite dipping 0.04% to 3,368.7 and the CSI 300 down 0.3% to 3,919.4.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.6% to 23,483.3, while India’s BSE Sensex dropped 0.9% to 77,288.5.
European markets saw mixed results. The UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 8,689.6, while Germany’s DAX slipped 1.2% to 22,839.0 and France’s CAC 40 fell 1% to 8,030.7.
