Australia, New South Wales, Sydney
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Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats kept investors on edge.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.8% to end the day at 37,120.33, its lowest level in about two weeks, while the Topix fell 2.07% to 2,757.25. South Korea’s Kospi traded 1.89% lower to 2,557.98, while the small-cap Kosdaq dipped 1.94% to 693.76.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 0.65% to close at 23,426.6 while mainland China’s CSI 300 dipped 0.44% to close at 3,915.17.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.16% to close at 7,982 as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a national election on May 3, kicking off a five-week campaign.
Meanwhile, the Stock Exchange of Thailand announced the “immediate suspension of all trading activities” following a strong earthquake in Myanmar.
Investors will continue eyeing shares of automakers after they declined on Thursday following Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs on “all cars that are not made in the United States.”
The president’s comments this week regarding the upcoming April 2 tariffs, however, have eased some concerns for investors. Recently, Trump mentioned that the tariffs would be “very lenient” and expressed a willingness to lower tariffs on China to facilitate a deal with ByteDance’s TikTok.
On Thursday, he also used tariffs as a bargaining tool, warning that he could impose “far larger” duties on the European Union and Canada, if they join forces to oppose the levies.
U.S. stock futures were little changed as investors grappled with ongoing tariff uncertainty.
Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 155.09 points, or 0.37%, to end at 42,299.70. The S&P 500 declined 0.33% to close at 5,693.31, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.53% to settle at 17,804.03.
CNBC’s Pia Singh and Brian Evans contributed to this report.
