BANGKOK (news agencies) — Shares opened higher in Europe but sagged Tuesday in Asia as worries over U.S.-China trade friction weighed on the outlook for the region.
Dramatically shifting transatlantic relations under U.S. President Donald Trump, the United States split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three U.N. resolutions Monday seeking an end to the three-year war.
But regional markets were undaunted.
Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% higher, to 22,446.75, while the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.1% to 8,087.33. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.1%, to 8,684.00.
The future for the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.4% to 38,237.79 after markets in Japan reopened from a holiday on Monday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 1.3% to 23,034.02, while the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.8% to 3,346.04.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7% to 8,251.90.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.7% to 2,630.29 after the Bank of Korea cut its benchmark interest rate to 2.75% from 3%, its third cut in four meetings as it moves to support the slowing economy.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.2% and the Sensex in India gained 0.3%.
Trump has openly antagonized multiple U.S. trading partners recently, threatening to raise tariffs and inviting them to retaliate with import taxes of their own that could send the economy hurtling into a trade war. He said Monday that tariff hikes on imports from America’s neighbors Canada and Mexico will move ahead after a one-month delay. He also has put an extra 10% tariff on Chinese imports, citing that country’s role in the production of the opioid fentanyl.
Major companies have warned about uncertainty over U.S. trade policies, while the University of Michigan’s latest consumer sentiment index plunged by roughly 10% over the past month in part due to fears about tariffs and inflation worsening.
“President Trump isn’t blinking on tariffs,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. “Uncertainty reigns, and economic momentum is sputtering.”
On Monday, U.S. stocks drifted lower, compounding their sharp losses from last week.
German stocks ticked higher, and the DAX advanced 0.6% after political conservatives won an election dominated by concerns about Europe’s largest economy.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.5% to 5,983.25 on Monday after flipping between small gains and losses several times through the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 43,461.21, while the Nasdaq composite fell 1.2% to 19,286.92.
Berkshire Hathaway climbed 4.1% for one of the market’s bigger gains after Warren Buffett’s company reported a jumped in operating profits for the latest quarter. But even there, the good news came with a bit of caution.
The owner of Geico, BNSF railroad and other businesses said over the weekend that it’s sitting on a mountain of $334.2 billion in unused cash. Such a large amount could indicate Buffett, who’s famous for buying stocks when prices are low, may not see much worth purchasing in a market that critics say looks too expensive.
Big U.S. companies have broadly been reporting better profits for the last three months of 2024 than analysts expected, which is one of the main reasons the S&P 500 set a record before sliding at the end of last week.
More profit reports are coming. This week will also feature updates on consumer confidence and inflation, topics leading Wall Street’s agenda following last week’s slump.
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