Asian Markets Trade Mixed Amid Tariff Uncertainty

Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid ongoing concerns about the heightening trade war and the potential impact on inflation and global growth after U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on auto and auto parts starting next week. Asian Markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Trump also said tariffs coming in April will ‘probably be more lenient than reciprocal’ and that he would consider lowering tariff rates imposed on China. Trump added there would be exceptions to the tariffs, but there would be “not too many exceptions.”

There were also hawkish comments from US Fed officials, who said the trade policies of the government will likely push up inflation and prompt the central bank to keep interest rates higher for longer.

The Australian market is trading notably lower on Thursday, snapping a five-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,000 mark, with weakness in financial and technology stocks partially offset by gains in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 39.60 points or 0.50 percent to 7,959.40, after hitting a low of 7,936.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 47.80 points or 0.58 percent to 8,177.30. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 4 percent, while Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are adding more than 1 percent each, while Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 4 percent, Appen is declining more than 3 percent, Zip is slipping more than 7 percent, Xero is edging down 0.4 percent and WiseTech Global is sliding almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is declining more than 1 percent and Westpac is edging down 0.3 percent, while National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Newmont and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 5 percent.

In other news, shares in Reject Shop are skyrocketing almost 110 percent after reports that Canada’s Dollarama will acquire the Australian discount retailer at a more than 100 percent premium.

Shares in Core Lithium are surging more than 5 percent after it released a key update on its restart study for the Finniss Lithium Operation in the Northern Territory. The restart study is on track for completion in the June quarter of 2025.

Shares in Healius are soaring almost 11 percent after the pathology services company released a detailed transformation plan and announced plans to pay 41.3 cents per share special dividend.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.630 on Thursday.

The Japanese market is trading significantly lower on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well above the 37,700 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, automakers, exporters and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,674.03, down 353.26 points or 0.93 percent, after hitting a low of 37,556.75 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 3 percent and Honda is down more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 6 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are down almost 1 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing more than 2 percent and Sony is slipping more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are down almost 1 percent each.

Among other major losers, Fujikura and Subaru are sliding more than 6 percent each, while Mazda Motor is declining almost 6 percent and Furukawa Electric is losing more than 5 percent. Disco and Mitsubishi Motors are slipping almost 5 percent each, while Renesas Electronics, Konica Minolta and Mercari are down more than 4 percent. Denso, Idemitsu Kosan and Nintendo are tumbling almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 150 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each. Indonesia is down 0.3 percent, while Taiwan and South Korea are down 1.4 and 1.0 percent, respectively. New Zealand is relatively flat.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past few sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the pullback amid significant weakness in the technology sector.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained negative. The Nasdaq plunged 372.84 points or 2.0 percent to 17,889.01, the S&P 500 slumped 64.45 points or 1.1 percent to 5,712.20 and the Dow fell 132.71 points or 0.3 percent to 42,454.79.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.2 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher Wednesday on supply concerns after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week, while renewed efforts from the U.S. to limit Venezuelan and Iranian oil exports also boosted prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May closed up $0.65 or about 0.94 percent at $69.65 a barrel.

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