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Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall Monday, tracking U.S. stocks futures that were lower ahead of key economic data, with the likelihood of more tariffs escalating trade tensions also denting investor sentiment.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he was planning to announce a blanket 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports on Monday, according to Reuters.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 started the day down 0.41%, while the broader Topix index lost 0.41%
The country’s bank lending grew by 3% year on year in January, falling slightly from December’s 3.1%.
South Korea’s indexes also opened lower, with the Kospi down 0.58% and the small-cap Kosdaq down 0.5%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading down 0.31%.
The three key U.S. indexes fell Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump’s said he was planning reciprocal tariffs on trading partners. Markets were further pressured by the release of consumer sentiment and jobs data which pointed to a pickup in inflation and spiked the 10-year Treasury yield above 4.5% at its session high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 444.23 points, or 0.99%, to close at 44,303.40. The S&P 500 declined 0.95% to 6,025.99, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.36% to end at 19,523.40. Friday’s losses left the major averages in negative territory on the week.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
