Asia-Pacific Markets Reduce Losses after the Purchase on Wall Street
Tuesday saw a decline in Asia-Pacific markets, mirroring U.S. losses due to concerns about tariff policies and a possible recession in the largest economy in the world.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 pared sharper losses earlier in the day, closing the day 0.64% down at 36,793.11. In contrast, the overall Topix index dropped 1.11% to 2,670.72.
Fujitsu’s information and communication technology business dropped 4.98%, and image and network technology operator Konica Minolta lost 6.98%, both significant losses in the Nikkei 225.
On an annualized basis, Japan’s revised GDP for the fourth quarter was 2.2%, below the 2.8% growth estimate and experts’ predictions. The small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.60% to 721.50, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.28% to settle at 2,537.60.
While mainland China’s CSI 300 concluded the day 0.32% higher at 3,941.42, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index remained unchanged in its last hour. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Taiex index pared losses from a more than 3% decline earlier in the day, closing down 1.73% at 22,071.09.
In other news, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 reversed its gains from the session and ended the day 0.91% down at 7,890.10. The BSE Sensex fell 0.20% in India at 1 p.m. local time, while the benchmark Nifty 50 remained unchanged. Fears that Trump’s tariff stance might cause the United States to enter a recession caused equities to plummet overnight.
After briefly hitting its lowest level since Sep, the S&P 500 fell 2.7%. It was the worst session since September 2022 for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which fell 4%. At 41,911.71, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.08%.
The Nasdaq Composite is down about 14% from its most recent peak, while the S&P 500 is down 8.7% from its peak on February 19. Wall Street considers a 10% drop to be a correction. The losses were more severe as the day went on, but shortly before the close, the main averages recovered from their session lows.
