Source (Reuters) -Stocks slump across Asia on Friday and the U.S. dollar hovered near multi-week highs against the currencies of the country’s top trading partners as concerns about an escalating global trade war soured market sentiment.
Technology shares took an additional hit following a sell-off in AI darling Nvidia and other so-called “Magnificent Seven” Wall Street mega-cap stocks, as investors judged the chipmaker’s earnings report harshly a day after it was released.
The safe-haven yen and Swiss franc strengthened, with Japan’s currency getting an additional boost from lower U.S. Treasury yields. Bitcoin dipped below $80,000 for the first time in more than three months.
An overall firmer dollar weighed on commodities including gold, although oil held on to most of Thursday’s strong gains spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump’s cancellation of Chevron’s Venezuela licence.
Trump said on Thursday that 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico will come into effect on March 4 – not April 2 as he had suggested the day prior – and said goods from China will be subject to an additional 10% duty. He also this week promised 25% tariffs on shipments from the European Union.
“A market that had reduced its sensitivity to recent tariff headlines has had to reconsider that reaction function,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.
“The skew for risk in the near-term suggests the downside has further to go here.”
Japan’s Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab tumbled 3.3%, buckling under the weight of a stronger yen, while South Korea’s Kospi (.KS11), opens new tab sank 3.2%.
Taiwanese shares (.TWII), opens new tab dropped 1.5%, and Australia’s stock benchmark (.AXJO), opens new tab sagged 1.3%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (.HSI), opens new tab slid 2.3%, although mainland blue chips (.CSI300), opens new tab declined by a relatively small 0.8%.
Many analysts project that Trump’s trade policies raise the odds of additional stimulus from next week’s meeting on China’s National People’s Congress.
Pan-European STOXX 50 stock futures pointed 1.2% lower, after bourses around the region retreated on Thursday.
U.S. S&P 500 futures were down 0.2% following a 1.6% tumble for the cash index (.SPX), opens new tab overnight.
World stocks (.MIWO00000PUS), opens new tab are on track for their worst week since mid-December, slumping close to 2%.
The U.S. dollar index – which gauges the greenback against six major peers including the euro, yen and franc – edged up to 107.39 for the first time since February 13.
The euro dipped to $1.0380, the lowest since February 13.
The Swiss franc gained slightly to 0.8989 per dollar, bouncing off Thursday’s low of 0.9005.
The yen climbed 0.2% to 149.54 per dollar, with 10-year Treasury yields – which the currency pair tends to track – sinking as low as 4.2220% in Asian hours, a level last seen on December 11.
