HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mostly lower Friday as investors mulled uncertainties brought by U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 sank 2% to 36,920.84 on renewed heavy selling of auto-related shares following Trump’s announcement he plans to impose 25% tariffs on auto imports.
Toyota Motor Corp. shares lost 2.8% while Honda Motor Co. dipped 2.4%.
A report that Tokyo's inflation rate rose to 2.9% this month spurred expectations that the Bank of Japan will likely raise its key interest rate at its May policy board meeting.
In South Korea, the Kospi sank 2% to 2,555.36. Hyundai Motor Co. lost 4% and Kia Corp.'s shares lost 3%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng turned lower, falling 0.6% to 23,436.01. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.5% to 3,359.18.
Australia's S&P/ASX200 edged 0.2% higher, closing at 7,982.00.
Taiwan's Taiex tumbled 1.6% and Bangkok's SET declined 0.5%.
On Thursday, Wall Street ended with modest losses as Trump's tariff escalation created winners and losers among auto stocks. Better-than-expected data on the economy also helped support the market.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 5,693.31 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 42,299.70. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.5% to 17,804.03.
General Motors sank 7.4%, one of the market’s sharper losses. Ford Motor dropped 3.9%.
Even U.S. automakers selling vehicles in the country can feel the pain of such tariffs because their supply chains are spread throughout North America and beyond. Trump says he wants more manufacturing to take place within the United States.
Among the uncertainties are how the U.S. government will determine how to apply tariffs to parts that are compliant with the free-trade agreement that the United States and Mexico and Canada have, but are not made entirely within the United States. Tracking parts could be difficult.
U.S. electric-vehicle makers Rivian and Tesla did better. They face less pressure from Trump’s tariffs because more of their production happens in the United States.
Rivian rallied 7.6%, and Elon Musk’s Tesla added 0.4% after paring an earlier, bigger gain.
Companies that could benefit from drivers opting against buying new cars also revved higher. Among auto parts retailers, AutoZone gained 4%, and O’Reilly Automotive climbed 3.1%. CarMax, which sells used autos, rose 2.5%.
Stock markets worldwide will likely remain shaky as an April 2 deadline approaches for more tariffs. That’s what Trump has called “Liberation Day,” when he will roll out tariffs tailored to the United States’ trading partners. In each case, he said the “reciprocal” tariff will match the burden the other country places on the United States, including things like value-added taxes.
“The burning question on every macro trader’s mind is: what’s really lurking behind the reciprocal tariff curtain?” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Hopes are still high that Trump may ultimately opt for more targeted or milder tariffs that are less painful for the global economy than feared. But even if he does, all the talk about tariffs has already made U.S. consumers and businesses more cautious and pessimistic. If they pull back on their spending, that could hurt the economy.
So far, the economy has held steady.
One report Thursday said slightly fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. It’s the latest sign the job market may be settling into a “low fire, low hire” state.
A second report said the U.S. economy’s growth during the final three months of last year was slightly stronger than earlier estimated.
On Wall Street, Petco Health & Wellness jumped 31.6% after the retailer reported slightly stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil dipped 20 cents to $69.72 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, lost 22 cents to $73.12 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar dropped to 150.741 Japanese yen from 151.05 yen. The euro edged down to $1.0796 from $1.0804.
Jiang Junzhe, The Associated Press
