Asia stocks slide, U.S. dollar strengthens on trade war worries

News Image

MG News | February 28, 2025 at 09:39 AM GMT+05:00

0:00

February 28, 2025 (MLN): Equities slumped in 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.

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.

An overall firmer dollar weighed on commodities, including gold, as Reuters reported.

However, oil held on to most of Thursday's strong gains, spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump's cancellation of Chevron's Venezuela license.

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 cleanest reaction has been seen in the FX channels," he said, noting the hit to the Canadian dollar and the euro.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled 2.4% early in Friday's session, buckling under the weight of a stronger yen, while South Korea's Kospi sank 1.8% and Australia's stock benchmark sagged 0.9%.

Chinese equities fared relatively better in early trading, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 1% and mainland blue chips down 0.3%.

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 0.8% lower, after bourses around the region retreated on Thursday.

U.S. S&P 500 futures were flat following a 1.6% tumble for the cash index overnight.

World stocks are on track for their worst week since mid-December, slumping more than 2%.

The U.S. dollar index which gauges the greenback against six major peers including the euro, yen and franc edged down to 107.20, but started the session at the highest since February 19 at 107.34.

The euro was steady at $1.04 after earlier dipping to $1.0389 for the first time since February 13.

The Swiss currency gained slightly to 0.8986 francs per dollar, bouncing off Thursday's low of 0.9005 francs.

The yen climbed 0.3% to 149.34 per dollar, with 10-year Treasury yields which the currency pair tends to follow sinking as low as 4.2310% in Asian hours, a level last seen on December 11.

While the threat of escalating tariffs has spurred dollar strength, it has also stoked worries about its impact on the U.S. economy.

Recent U.S. data has been soft, and traders have reacted by pricing in at least two quarter-point Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

The first cut could come as early as June, with another possible in September.

Investors will be keeping a close watch on the Fed's preferred inflation gauge the PCE deflator set for release later in the day.

Monthly non-farm payrolls figures are due a week from now.

Gold was flat at $2,880 per ounce, not far from Thursday's low of $2,867.63, a two-week nadir.

Oil prices held close to Thursday's peaks, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures easing 0.4% to $70.08, from as high as $70.54 in the prior session.

Cryptocurrency bitcoin slid 3.6% to $81,260, after earlier touched $81,807.29 for the first time since November 11.

Copyright Mettis Link News

Related News

Name Price/Vol %Chg/NChg
KSE100 136,502.54
259.91M
1.64%
2202.77
ALLSHR 85,079.90
838.35M
1.26%
1061.74
KSE30 41,552.62
97.27M
1.81%
738.33
KMI30 193,330.76
84.69M
0.39%
741.60
KMIALLSHR 56,315.31
366.02M
0.43%
243.06
BKTi 38,498.08
37.91M
4.13%
1526.33
OGTi 28,138.38
5.66M
-0.36%
-101.89
Symbol Bid/Ask High/Low
Name Last High/Low Chg/%Chg
BITCOIN FUTURES 119,750.00 120,695.00
119,160.00
-485.00
-0.40%
BRENT CRUDE 69.08 69.17
68.94
-0.13
-0.19%
RICHARDS BAY COAL MONTHLY 97.50 0.00
0.00
0.25
0.26%
ROTTERDAM COAL MONTHLY 106.50 106.60
106.50
-2.20
-2.02%
USD RBD PALM OLEIN 998.50 998.50
998.50
0.00
0.00%
CRUDE OIL - WTI 66.80 66.99
66.67
-0.18
-0.27%
SUGAR #11 WORLD 16.31 16.67
16.27
-0.26
-1.57%

Chart of the Day


Latest News
July 15, 2025 at 06:16 AM GMT+05:00

MG Morning Breeze: Updates to Skim before Market


July 14, 2025 at 05:26 PM GMT+05:00

Gold price in Pakistan rises Rs1,600 per tola


July 14, 2025 at 04:59 PM GMT+05:00

Tax reforms focus on public ease, transparency


July 14, 2025 at 04:23 PM GMT+05:00

PSX Closing Bell: Another One Bites the High



Top 5 things to watch in this week

Pakistan Stock Movers
Name Last Chg/%Chg
Name Last Chg/%Chg