Asian Markets Track Wall Street Lower

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Tuesday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid concerns about the economic impact after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as the additional 10 percent tariff on China will take effect Tuesday. The reciprocal tariffs on other U.S. trade partners will be imposed on April 2. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Monday.

The Australian stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 8,200 level, with weakness across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks, after US President Donald Trump confirmed he will move forward with higher tariffs on major trading partners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 72.70 points or 0.88 percent to 8,173.00, after hitting a low of 8,150.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 82.80 points or 0.98 percent to 8,396.00. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is losing more than 1 percent, Mineral Resources is sliding more than 10 percent, Rio Tinto is down 1.5 percent and Fortescue Metals is declining more than 4 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is losing more than 5 percent and Beach energy is declining almost 4 percent, while Woodside Energy and Santos are down more than 3 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 6 percent, Appen is sliding more than 4 percent and Zip is plunging almost 10 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are slipping almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.2 percent and Northern Star resources is up more than 1 percent, while Resolute Mining is declining almost 1 percent, Newmont is losing more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are losing almost 1 percent each. Westpac is flat.

In economic news, retail sales in Australia increased by 0.3 percent month-on-month in January 2025, after a 0.1 percent decline in the previous month and matching market expectations.

Meanwhile, Australia's current account deficit declined to A$12.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 from a downwardly revised A$19.9 billion shortfall in the third quarter, indicating the seventh consecutive quarter of deficit despite missing market expectations of an A$11.9 billion gap.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.622 on Tuesday. The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Tuesday, reversing the sharp gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling a tad below the 37,100 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks, after US President Donald Trump confirmed he will move forward with higher tariffs on major trading partners. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 37,096.51, down 688.96 points or 1.82 percent, after hitting a low of 36,816.16 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is slipping 7.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is flat.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is losing more than 2 percent, Canon is down almost 1 percent and Sony is declining almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Furukawa Electric and Seven & I Holdings are tumbling almost 9 percent each, while Fujikura is plunging almost 8 percent. Socionext is losing more than 5 percent, while Disco and Renesas Electronics are down more than 4 percent each. Ebara, Ryohin Keikaku and Isetan Mitsukoshi are declining more than 3 percent each, while Inpex, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Hino Motors and Sumco are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, IHI is gaining more than 4 percent and Takeda Pharmaceutical is adding almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan's unemployment rate was at 2.5 percent in January 2025, slightly above market estimates and December's readings of 2.4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia are lower by between 1.0 and 1.2 percent each, while Malaysia and Singapore are down 0.6 and 0.3 percent, respectively. South Korea and China is bucking the trend and is up 0.1 percent. On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Monday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunging to a four-month closing low.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq dove 497.09 points or 2.6 percent to 18,350.19, the S&P 500 tumbled 104.78 points or 1.8 percent to 5,849.72 and the Dow slumped 649.67 points or 1.5 percent to 43,191.24.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 2.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply to a near three-month low on Monday, weighed down by concerns about possible excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC and allies would go ahead with a plan of oil output increase in April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $1.39 or nearly 2 percent, at $68.37 a barrel.