Asian Shares Sink, With Japan's Nikkei Down 5.6% As China-U.S. Trade War Escalates | rssama.com

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares sank Friday aft U.S. stocks gave up overmuch of their historic gains from nan time before.

The deepening worries complete President Donald Trump’ s waste and acquisition warfare initially helped propulsion Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock scale down 5.6%.

By mid-morning successful Tokyo, it was down 4.7% astatine 32,969.95.

The yen surged against nan U.S. dollar, which besides mislaid worth against nan euro.

One dollar bought 143.48 Japanese yen, down from astir 146 yen a time earlier. The euro roseate to $1.1305 from $1.1195.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.6% to 2,400.34, while successful Australia, nan S&P/ASX 200 shed 2.1% to 7,552.10.

Investors are viewing Trump’s determination to position a 90 time hold connected higher tariffs for astir countries arsenic a ploy, not a pivot, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said successful a commentary.

“That’s nan marketplace hitting nan brakes, hard. The sweetener precocious from Trump’s tariff region is fading fast, and Asia’s astir to consciousness nan comedown. The champagne’s flat, nan party’s over, and nan portion is twitching,” he wrote.

On Thursday, nan S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%, slicing into Wednesday’s surge of 9.5% pursuing Trump’s determination to pause galore of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014 points, aliases 2.5%, and nan Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.3%.

But China announced much countermeasures against nan United States and losses for U.S. stocks accelerated aft nan White House clarified that nan United States will taxation Chinese imports astatine 145%, not nan 125% complaint that Trump had written astir successful his posting connected Truth Social Wednesday, erstwhile different antecedently announced tariffs were included. The driblet for nan S&P 500 exceeded 6% astatine 1 point.

All told, nan S&P 500 fell 188.85 points Thursday to 5,268.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014.79 to 39,593.66, and nan Nasdaq composite sank 737.66 to 16,387.31.

“Trump blinks,” UBS strategist Bhanu Baweja wrote successful a study astir nan president’s determination connected tariffs, “but nan harm isn’t each undone.”

China, meanwhile, has been seeking to subordinate forces pinch different countries successful evident hopes of forming a agreed beforehand against Trump. The world’s second-largest system is besides ramping up its ain countermeasures to Trump’s tariffs.

The banal value of Warner Bros. Discovery, nan institution down “A Minecraft Movie,” dropped 12.5% for 1 of Wall Street’s sharpest losses aft China said Thursday it will “appropriately trim nan number of imported U.S. films.” The Walt Disney Co.’s banal sank 6.8%

A spokesperson for nan China Film Administration said it is “inevitable” that Chinese audiences would find American films little palatable fixed nan “wrong move by nan U.S. to wantonly instrumentality tariffs connected China.”

That was aft Trump and his Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, sent a clear connection to different countries Wednesday aft announcing their region connected tariffs for astir countries: “Do not retaliate, and you will beryllium rewarded.”

The European Union said Thursday it will put its waste and acquisition retaliation measures connected clasp for 90 days and time off room for a negotiated solution.

Thursday’s swings besides deed nan enslaved market, which has historically played nan domiciled of enforcer against politicians and economical policies it deemed imprudent. It helped topple nan United Kingdom’s Liz Truss successful 2022, for example, whose 49 days made her Britain’s shortest-serving premier minister.

Earlier this week, large jumps for U.S. Treasury yields had rattled nan market, truthful overmuch that Trump said Wednesday he had been watching really investors were “getting a small queasy.”

Several reasons could person been down nan sharp, abrupt emergence successful yields. Hedge costs whitethorn person sold Treasurys successful bid to raise cash, and investors extracurricular nan United States whitethorn beryllium dumping their U.S. authorities bonds because of nan waste and acquisition war. Regardless of nan reasons down it, higher Treasury yields crank up unit connected nan banal marketplace and push rates higher for mortgages and different loans for U.S. households and businesses.

The 10-year Treasury output had calmed pursuing Trump’s U-turn connected tariffs, dropping each nan measurement backmost to 4.30% soon aft nan merchandise of a better-than-expected study connected ostentation Thursday morning. That’s aft it had changeable up to astir 4.50% Wednesday greeting from conscionable 4.01% astatine nan extremity of past week.

As Thursday progressed, though, nan 10-year Treasury output climbed erstwhile again and reached 4.40%. It was trading astatine 4.39% early Friday.

In different dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude lipid mislaid 37 cents to $59.70 per tube successful physics trading connected nan New York Stock Exchange.

Brent crude, nan world standard, fell 30 cents to $63.03 per barrel.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.