Asian-Pacific markets opened lower on Tuesday amid renewed trade tensions, as United States President Donald Trump’s tariff policies continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
By 11:40 am AEDT (12:40 am GMT) Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.9%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5%.
Among data releases, the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index rose 4.7 points to 89.8, reaching its highest level since May 2022.
ANZ Economist Sophia Angala noted, "The lift across all subindices follows the RBA’s 25bp rate cut and robust employment data last week.
“Across the housing cohorts, confidence amongst mortgage holders jumped 10.7 points to its highest level since early May 2022 (before the beginning of the RBA’s hiking cycle) and is now sitting above the confidence of outright homeowners, which remained largely steady last week.”
Investors are also closely watching the Bank of Korea, which is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its upcoming meeting.
Overnight, U.S. markets struggled to recover from last week’s sell-off, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.5% to 5,983.3. The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.2%, closing at 19,286.9, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 33.2 points, or 0.1%, to 43,461.2.
Trump reiterated on Monday that tariffs on Canada and Mexico would take effect once the current one-month postponement ends, further dampening investor sentiment.
In commodities, Brent crude eased 0.2% to US$74.31 per barrel, while spot gold rose 0.5% to a fresh record high of $2,952.07 per ounce.
China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2% to 3,373, while the CSI 300 also dipped 0.2% to 3,969.7.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended 0.6% lower at 23,341.61, while India’s BSE Sensex dropped 1.1% to 74,454.4.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 closed flat at 8,659, while Germany’s DAX gained 0.6% to 22,425.9. France’s CAC 40 declined 0.8% to 8,091.
