On Friday morning (7 March, 9:22 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific decreased across the region, in tandem with losses seen on Wall Street, as investors remained unsettled despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to alleviate concerns with tariff concessions.
Trader concerns escalated with U.S. economic indicators pointing to potential hindrance from President Trump’s strategies, accentuated by worries over rising input costs due to tariffs. Additionally, as per data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, layoffs surged to 2020 levels, believed to be influenced by Trump and Elon Musk’s government workforce reductions.
In China, the nation’s customs agency is slated to announce combined trade data for January and February, with economists surveyed by Reuters anticipating a 5% year-on-year decline in export growth, with imports projected to remain unchanged at 1%.
Meanwhile, yields on long-term Japanese government bonds (JGB) surged to their highest levels since 2008. The 20-year JGB yield peaked at 2.25%, marking a slight uptick of over 5 basis points, while the 30-year JGB yield climbed to 2.556%, showing an increase of 6.6 basis points.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 1.62% to 37,094.5. South Korea’s KOSPI declined by 0.38% to 2,566.28, and Australia’s ASX 200 plummeted by 1.22% to 7,996.2.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC shrank by 0.21% to 3,373.91. Hong Kong’s HSI dropped by 0.9% to 24,150.48, and Shenzhen’s SZI contracted by 0.34% to 10,862.26.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) decreased by 0.99% to 42,579.08. NASDAQ fell by 2.61% to 18,069.26, and S&P 500 lost 1.78% to 5,738.52. VIX surged by 13.41% to 24.87.
As for commodities, oil prices remained relatively stable in volatile trading on Thursday, impacted by tariffs involving the U.S., Canada, and China, alongside intentions from OPEC+ to increase production. Brent futures added 16 cents or 0.2% to $69.46 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 5 cents or 0.1% to $66.36 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures grew 10 cents or 0.14% to $69.56 a barrel, and the WTI climbed 4 cents or 0.06% to $66.4 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures dropped 0.53% to $2,911.2 per Troy ounce.
