Asia-Pacific markets tumbled on Thursday after United States President Donald Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories, heightening fears of a global trade war.
Several key APAC economies were directly impacted, with Japan, South Korea, and Australia facing tariffs of 24%, 25%, and 10%, respectively.
By 11:30 am AEDT (12:30 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.8%, South Korea’s Kospi 200 lost 1.8%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 2.9%.
U.S. stock futures also plunged, with Trump’s tariff rollout raising concerns about a global economic slowdown.
Among economic releases, Australia's trade balance on goods declined by A$2,188 million in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), driven by a 3.6% drop in exports, particularly in non-monetary gold.
Imports, however, rose by 1.6%, led by an increase in capital goods.
Meanwhile, job vacancies fell 4.5% to 329,000 in February, reversing recent gains.
Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, noted, “The drop in the number of job vacancies reversed the recent rise of 17,000 vacancies in the three months to November 2024. As a result, there was a similar number of vacancies to what there had been in August.”
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended higher in another volatile session. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% to 5,671.0, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% to 17,601.1, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 235.4 points, or 0.6%, to close at 42,225.3.
In commodities, Brent crude rose 0.6% to trade at US$74.95 per barrel, while spot gold gained 0.7% to reach US$3,134.30 per ounce.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1% to 3,350.1, while the CSI 300 eased 0.1% to 3,884.4.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index remained flat at 23,202.5, while India’s BSE Sensex added 0.8% to 76,617.4.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 8,608.5, the DAX lost 0.7% to 22,390.8, and the CAC 40 declined 0.2% to 7,858.8.
