Asian markets plunged on Monday, deepening a global stocks rout triggered by US President Donald Trump’s trade war and China’s forceful response to unexpectedly high tariffs.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei fell by more than 8% shortly after opening, while the broader Topix index last traded more than 6.5% lower after recovering from its steepest losses.
In mainland China, where markets reopened after a public holiday, the Shanghai Composite Index was last trading 6.7% lower. The blue-chip CSI300 index lost 7.5%. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index opened more than 9% lower. South Korea’s Kospi tumbled more than 4.8% shortly after opening. Trading was halted for five minutes when a circuit breaker designed to prevent panic selling was triggered.
Asian markets are tracking the worst two-day stretch for Wall Street stocks in five years. US stock futures plunged Sunday evening after two sessions of sell-offs that wiped away over $5.4 trillion in market value.
US stocks fell sharply on Friday after China retaliated fiercely, imposing a 34% tariff on all US goods, raising fears of an escalating and damaging trade war fueled by continuing trade tension between the world’s two largest economies.
A commentary published Monday by the People’s Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s official mouthpiece, stressed that the country has a “strong capacity to withstand the pressure” in the face of “US tariff bullying.”
“Faced with America’s reckless tariff punches, we know exactly what we’re dealing with, and we have plenty of countermeasures at hand,” it said. “After eight years of trade war with the US, we’ve built up a wealth of experience in this struggle.”
