Tokyo, Mar 12: Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs after another day of losses on Wall Street.
US futures and oil prices were higher.
Trump’s escalation in his trade war briefly pulled the S&P 500 more than 10 per cent below its record set last month. The head-spinning moves came after Trump upped his tariffs against Canadian steel and aluminum, prompting the Canadian province of Ontario to remove a surcharge that had enraged him.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.2 per cent to 36,880.79 in morning trading.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3 per cent to 23,845.37, while the Shanghai Composite edged down nearly 0.1 per cent to 3,377.95.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.7 per cent to 7,756.90. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.5 per cent to 2,575.39.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.8 per cent, taking the main measure of Wall Street’s health to a close 9.3 per cent below its all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1 per cent to 41,433.48. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2 per cent to 17,436.10.
Such head-spinning moves are becoming routine in what’s been a scary ride for investors as Trump tries to remake the country and world through tariffs and other policies.
Stocks have been heaving mostly lower on uncertainty about how much pain Trump is willing for the economy to endure in order to get what he wants.
“Trump’s tariff policies continue to have a destabilizing effect on markets, with investors left guessing as to which measures will either be added or walked back next,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
Moves by Trump and comments by the White House on Tuesday didn’t clarify much.
Trump has acknowledged the economy could feel some “disturbance” because of the tariffs he’s pushing. Asked on Tuesday just how much pain Trump would be willing for the economy and stock market to take, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to give an exact answer. But she said earlier in the press briefing that “the president will look out for Wall Street and for Main Street.”
For his part, Trump said earlier on social media, “The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear.”
Stocks pared their losses later in the day, even briefly eliminating them altogether, after Ontario’s premier said he had agreed to remove the surcharge on electricity that had enraged Trump so much. Trump would afterward say that he would “probably” return the steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada to 25 per cent.
Tuesday’s swings followed more warning signals flashing about the economy as Trump’s on -and- off -again rollout of tariffs creates confusion and pessimism for US households and businesses.
Such tariffs can hurt the economy directly by raising prices for US consumers and gumming up global trade. But even if they end up being milder than feared, all the whipsaw moves could leave US companies and consumers unwilling to invest or spend.
Several Big Tech stocks steadied a bit after getting walloped recently. Elon Musk’s Tesla rose 3.8 per cent, for example, after Trump said he would buy a Tesla in a show of support for “Elon’s baby.’”
Other Big Tech superstars, which had led the market to record after record in recent years, also held a bit firmer. Nvidia added 1.7 per cent to trim its loss for the year so far to 19 per cent. It struggled as the market’s sell-off has particularly hit stocks seen as getting too expensive in Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.
A report released Tuesday morning showed US employers were advertising 7.7 million job openings at the end of January, just as economists expected. It’s the latest signal that the US job market remains relatively solid overall, for now at least, after the economy closed last year running at a healthy pace.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude added 52 cents to USD 66.77 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 51 cents to USD 70.07 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 148.22 Japanese Yen from 147.78 Yen. The Euro cost USD 1.0902, inching down from USD 1.0919. (AP)
