Asia-Pacific stocks set to extend declines as Trump tariffs roil global markets

Asia-Pacific markets are set to extend declines on Friday, tracking steep losses on Wall Street after U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs rattled global markets.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.06%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a lower open for the market. The futures contract in Chicago is currently at 33,885 and its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 33,620 compared to the index’s previous close of 34,735.93.

Hong Kong and China markets are closed for the Qingming Festival.

A verdict by South Korea’s Constitutional Court to remove impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected later Friday. Should he be removed from office, it will trigger a 60-day countdown where an election must be held to select the next president.

On Wednesday, Trump unveiled reciprocal tariff rates that over 180 countries and territories will face, raising the risk of a global trade war.

U.S. futures fell after Trump’s tariffs led to the largest decline in U.S. equities in five years.

Futures tied to the blue-chip index lost 100 points, or 0.3%, after the 30-stock average tumbled more than 1,600 points in the prior session. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each shed 0.2%.

Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages plummeted. The S&P 500 slid back into correction territory, dropping 4.84% to 5,396.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1,679.39 points, or 3.98%, to close at 40,545.93 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.97% to end at 16,550.61, logging its biggest decline since March 2020. 

CNBC’s Brian Evans, John Melloy and Pia Singh contributed to this report.