Asian stock markets fell Wednesday after the Trump administration announced it plans to slap tariffs on a further $200 billion of Chinese imports.
But benchmarks recovered from session lows, with indexes in China, Hong Kong and Japan all down around 1.5%. Australia’s S&P/ASX XJO, -0.68% , Korea’s Kospi and Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, -0.74% narrowed their declines to less than 1%, while New Zealand’s benchmark NZ50GR, -0.24% was little changed. S&P 500 futures ESH9, -0.86% fell 0.8%
After three days of solid gains, Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -1.19% was last down 1.3%, with exporters hit the hardest. Automakers Honda 7267, -1.07% , Toyota 7203, -0.27% and Nissan 7201, -2.06% all fell, while chip-equipment maker Advantest 6857, -0.76% and imaging manufacturer Canon 7751, -0.48% dropped around 1%.
Tech and auto companies also weighed down South Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.59% , with Samsung 005930, -0.65% and Hynudai 005380, -1.62% slipping about 1%.
In China, the Shanghai SHCOMP, -1.76% and Shenzhen 399106, -1.96% composites recovered slightly after falling more than 2% in early trading. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, -1.70% also stemmed early losses, with Tencent 0700, -2.28% and AIA 1299, -1.18% posting declines.
