A man looks at an electronic board displaying stock prices of the Nikkei 225 listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on April 30, 2024.
Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets slid on Tuesday, tracking losses in the U.S. following anxiety over tariff policy and a potential recession in the world’s largest economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended the day 0.64% lower at 36,793.11, paring steeper losses earlier in the session. The broader Topix index, meanwhile fell 1.11% to 2,670.72.
Significant losses in the Nikkei 225 were seen in imaging and network technology operator Konica Minolta, which was down 6.98% and information and communication technology company Fujitsu, which lost 4.98%.
Japan’s revised GDP for the fourth quarter came in at 2.2% on an annualized basis, below economists’ expectations and the previous estimate of 2.8% growth.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.28% to close at 2,537.60 while the small-cap Kosdaq dipped 0.60% to 721.50.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.29% in its final hour, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was up 0.15%.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Taiex index closed down 1.73% at 22,071.09, paring losses from an over 3% drop earlier in the session.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.91% lower at 7,890.10, reversing course from gains in the previous session.
Over in India, the benchmark Nifty 50 was flat in early trade, while the BSE Sensex dipped 0.21%.
Overnight in the U.S., stocks slid amid fears that Trump’s tariff policy could push the U.S. into a recession.
The S&P 500 shed 2.7%, after touching its lowest level since September at one point. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite saw the sharpest decline, falling 4%, in its worst session since September 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.08%, ending at 41,911.71.
The S&P 500 is off 8.7% from its all-time high on Feb. 19, while the Nasdaq Composite is off nearly 14% from its recent high. A 10% decline is considered a correction on Wall Street.
The losses worsened as the day progressed, but the major averages came off their session lows just before the close.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
