Restored Cheonggyecheon at night, Seoul.
Renan Gicquel | Moment Open | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday after all three benchmarks in the U.S. tumbled over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
In another sign of a trade war escalation, Trump threatened to enact 200% tariffs on all alcoholic products coming from the European Union in retaliation for the bloc’s 50% tariff on whiskey. Trump said he would not be changing his mind on a broader group of tariffs set to be implemented on April 2.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.41% higher, following losses in the previous session.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 began trading flat while the broader Topix index also traded flat.
South Korea’s Kospi index was flat while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.61% in early trade.
Meanwhile, Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 23,793 pointing to a slightly stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 23,462.65.
Overnight in the U.S., stocks slid on the back of new tariff threats from Trump.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.39% to settle at 5,521.52. The index ended the day in correction, 10.1% off its record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 537.36 points, or 1.3%, marking its fourth day of declines and closing at 40,813.57. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.96% with shares of Tesla and Apple lower.
The disorderly rollout of Trump’s U.S. trade policy has rattled markets this month. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are respectively on track for losses of 4.3% and 4.9% week to date. The Dow is off about 4.7% in the period, tracking for its worst week since June 2022.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
