Asia-Pacific markets slide after Trump’s tariff announcement rocks sentiment
Asia-Pacific markets plunged on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed hefty reciprocal tariffs on over 180 countries and territories — several of which are in the region.
Japanese markets led losses in Asia. The benchmark Nikkei 225 pared losses of over 4% to end the day 2.77% lower at 34,735.93, while the broader Topix index closed down 3.08% at 2,568.61.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi index pared losses from over 3% to close 0.76% lower at 2,486.70, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.2% to 683.49.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.59% to end the day at 3,861.50, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.52% to 22,849.81.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 dropped 0.26% while the broader BSE Sensex declined 0.36% as at 1.45 p.m. local time.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.94% to close at 7,859.70.
— Amala Balakrishner
Europe’s Stoxx 600 index was 1.6% lower shortly after the market open early on Thursday, as traders assessed the scope and impact of U.S. tariffs.
Banks on the index were down 3.2% at 8:10 a.m. U.K. time, while technology stocks fell 2.6%.
A range of European firms expected to be hit by the measures declined sharply, with German retailers Puma and Adidas down 9% and 8.6% respectively. Swedish automaker Volvo Cars was down 9%, and shipping giant Maersk — viewed as a barometer for global trade — shed 7.4%.
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Stoxx 600 index.
The market’s after-hours decline can be attributed to a divergence between what investors were expecting versus President Donald Trump’s tariff policy announcement earlier this afternoon, according to Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management.
“I think that the market had a modicum of belief that we would have an announcement on tariff and trade that was universally applied and less worse than feared. And I think that was what manifested in markets over the course of the last couple of days,” Hogan told CNBC in an interview.
But instead, it seems like the markets weren’t expecting for President Donald Trump to not only issue a blanket 10% tariff, but additional higher duties for select nations.
“What was delivered was as haphazard as anything this administration has done to date, and the level of complication on top of the ultimate level of new tariffs is worse than had been feared and not yet priced into the market,” Hogan added. “That’s exactly where I think we are right now.”
— Lisa Kailai Han
President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs could push the S&P 500 back into a correction with a decline of at least 10% from its February record high, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
“I think it’ll probably push the markets lower,” Stovall told CNBC in an interview. “They will continue lower tomorrow and certainly retest the 10.1% sell-off threshold, and probably push us into a bit deeper of a correction. People were hoping for clarity and it added to opaqueness.”
“The market was not expecting it to be as harsh as it is, and as a result, Wall Street was not appreciative of what they heard,” he also said. “I think that Wall Street is basically saying that we’re not really sure what kind of retaliatory tariffs will come from our major trading partners, but what they are concerned about is that it will lead to higher inflation and lower EPS growth, if not just increased volatility.”
As of Wednesday’s close, the S&P 500 sits nearly 8% below its recent high. While the index is more than 1% higher this week, it’s fallen almost 5% in the past month.
— Sean Conlon
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INDA vs. EWJ and MCHI, 1-day
The moves lower come as Trump announced reciprocal tariffs of 26% on India, as well as 24% and 34% reciprocal tariffs on Japan and China, respectively.
— Sean Conlon
The two exchange-traded funds that track the performance of Vietnamese stocks tumbled in after-hours trading in reaction to the Trump administration imposing 46% tariffs on all goods imported from the Southeast Asian nation.
The $420 million VanEck Vietnam ETF dropped 3.2% in late trading while the $11 million Global X MSCI Vietnam ETF tumbled 6.5%.
— Scott Schnipper
International markets have outperformed U.S. equities in 2025 as investors anticipated U.S. policies would result in slower economic growth. However, President Trump’s retaliatory tariffs are a headwind on this trend, according to Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X.
“Hope for a softer tariff policy has turned out to be misplaced. The new tariffs could take some steam out of international trade. Tariff announcements are not good news for trading partners, and the administration is likely to leave these in place for some time,” said Helfstein. “Expect market volatility to persist in the coming months as tariff data works into economic data.”
Domestic companies and industries are not immune from tariffs either, Helfstein noted, with consumer and business sentiment already showing signs of weakening.
Nonetheless, “The tariff news does not alter the long-term secular trends that will continue to drive the U.S. forward,” Helfstein added.
“Further gains in areas like AI, automation and infrastructure will help drive corporate growth and profitability, but realization of some benefits may take a little longer. So, there is still opportunity to embrace secular growth trends,” said Helfstein.
— Hakyung Kim
RH, G-III Apparel Group and Penske Automotive Group tumbled between 23% and 25% in after-hours trading following President Trump’s imposition of larger-than-expected tariffs on imports of foreign-made goods into the U.S.
During the president’s Rose Garden announcement, RH, formerly Restoration Hardware, released fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street analysts’ estimates, as well as weaker-than-estimated fiscal first quarter and full-year revenue growth guidance.
Other companies that import a large number of products from overseas as part of their business model also slumped in late trading: Five Below and Gap Inc. tumbled 11% each; Deckers Outdoor dropped 10%; Lululemon Athletica, Urban Outfitters, Skechers, Shoe Carnival and Crocs slid 9%; and Williams-Sonoma and VF Corporation fell 8%.
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RH shares
President Trump held up a sign showing the rates countries will pay. Although there is a base tariff rate of 10%, the chart showed countries with larger trade imbalances could pay much more. For example, China will face a 34% rate, the European Union will be charged 20% and Vietnam will pay 46% under the reciprocal plan. A sample of the rates is in the chart above.
But some countries will face even higher rates when taking into account duties already implemented. For example, the effective rate on China goods will be more than 50%.
— Christina Cheddar Berk
Shares of iPhone maker Apple slipped nearly 5% in Wednesday’s after-hours trading.
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AAPL 5D chart
The moves came after President Donald Trump announced a blanket tariff of at least 10% for all foreign goods. Select other nations, such as China, Vietnam and India, were hit with a higher levy.
Apple is a company especially sensitive to these tariffs, since the company sells many of its products in international markets. Apple stock has been hit in recent quarters as the company has continued to experience market share losses in countries such as China to domestic competitors.
— Lisa Kailai Han
A Nike store is seen in New York City on April 2, 2025.
Kylie Cooper | Reuters
Multinational consumer stocks were sliding in after-hours trading following Trump’s tariff announcement.
- Nike fell 6%.
- Ralph Lauren dropped more than 5%.
- Estée Lauder declined 3.5%.
These companies all have significant sales outside of the U.S.
— Jesse Pound
Shortly after 4:45 p.m. ET, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500, traded about 2.2% lower. The Invesco QQQ ETF, which corresponds to the Nasdaq-100 Index, lost roughly 3.2%. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) shed nearly 1%.
— Pia Singh
