2h ago
06.52 BST
Summary
- For those just catching up with today’s rout of Asian financial markets, here’s a recap of the continuing fallout from Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs amid fears of an escalating global trade war and a potential US recession.
- The US president said foreign governments would have to pay “a lot of money” to lift tariffs that he characterised as “medicine” as markets in Asia plunged in early trading on Monday, continuing a two-day sell off that wiped almost $5tn off the value of global stock markets last week. Trump indicated he was not concerned about the market losses, telling reporters late on Sunday: “I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
- Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index tumbled nearly 9% as concerns over a tariff-induced global recession continued to rip through markets on Monday, reaching 30,792.74 for the first time since October 2023. Prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said his government would continue to ask Trump to lower tariffs but that results “won’t come overnight”.
- Hong Kong and Chinese stocks dived, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 8% in early trade. Shares in Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent fell more than 8%.
- Taiwan’s stock exchange fell almost 10% on the Monday open, the first day of trading since the tariffs were announced. The drop marked the largest one-day point and percentage loss on record, according to local media.
- Trading on South Korea’s Kospi index was halted for five minutes as stocks plummeted.
- Australian shares were also sharply lower, with more than $160bn wiped off the markets in early trading.
- The US president said he had spoken to leaders from Europe and Asia over the weekend, who hope to convince him to lower tariffs that are as high as 50% and due to take effect this week. “They are coming to the table. They want to talk but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis,” Trump said.
- Trump’s tariff announcement last week jolted economies around the world, triggering retaliatory levies from China. Wall Street stock futures opened sharply lower on Sunday, in a sign of further turbulence after the worst week for US stocks since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis five years ago.
- Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said more than 50 nations had started negotiations with the US since last Wednesday’s tariffs announcement.
- – With reporting by Helen Davidson and agencies
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