WORLD

Stock market today: Asian shares sag as worries over US-China trade weigh on outlook for the region

Feb 24, 2025, 8:58 PM | Updated: Feb 25, 2025, 2:14 pm

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares sagged Tuesday in Asia as worries over U.S.-China trade friction weighed on the outlook for the region.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.1% to 38,336.73 after markets in Japan reopened from a holiday on Monday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 0.6% to 23,196.33, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower, to 3,368.24.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7% to 8,252.50.

South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.3% to 2,637.45 after the Bank of Korea cut its benchmark interest rate to 2.75% from 3%, its third cut in four meetings as it moves to support the slowing economy.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1% and the Sensex in India gained 0.4%.

Trump said Monday that tariff hikes on imports from America’s neighbors Canada and Mexico will move ahead after a one-month delay. The president has openly antagonized multiple U.S. trading partners recently, threatening to raise tariffs and inviting them to retaliate with import taxes of their own that could send the economy hurtling into a trade war.

Trump has put an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports due to that country’s role in the production of the opioid fentanyl.

Major companies have warned about uncertainty over U.S. trade policies, while the University of Michigan’s latest consumer sentiment index plunged by roughly 10% over the past month in part due to fears about tariffs and inflation worsening.

On Monday, U.S. stocks drifted lower, compounding their sharp losses from last week.

German stocks ticked higher, and the DAX advanced 0.6% after political conservatives won an election dominated by concerns about Europe’s largest economy.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.5% to 5,983.25 on Monday after flipping between small gains and losses several times through the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 43,461.21, while the Nasdaq composite fell 1.2% to 19,286.92.

Berkshire Hathaway climbed 4.1% for one of the market’s bigger gains after Warren Buffett’s company reported a jumped in operating profits for the latest quarter. But even there, the good news came with a bit of caution.

The owner of Geico, BNSF railroad and other businesses said over the weekend that it’s sitting on a mountain of $334.2 billion in unused cash. Such a large amount could indicate Buffett, who’s famous for buying stocks when prices are low, may not see much worth purchasing in a market that critics say looks too expensive.

Starbucks rose 1.3% after saying it would cut 1,100 corporate jobs and leave several hundred more positions unfilled as new CEO Brian Niccol tries to make it a leaner operation.

Big U.S. companies have broadly been reporting better profits for the last three months of 2024 than analysts expected, which is one of the main reasons the S&P 500 set a record before sliding at the end of last week.

On Wednesday, Nvidia, the company that’s become one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks because of what had been nearly insatiable demand for its chips, will make its first profit report since a China’s DeepSeek upended the artificial-intelligence industry by saying it developed a large language model that can compete with big U.S. rivals without having to use the most advanced and expensive chips.

That called into question all the spending Wall Street had assumed will be required for the ecosystem that’s built around the AI boom, including electricity to power large data centers.

Nvidia’s stock lost 3.1% and was the heaviest single weight on the S&P 500.

This week will also feature updates on consumer confidence and inflation, topics leading Wall Street’s agenda following last week’s slump.

In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 52 cents to $71.22 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 0.7% to $74.75 per barrel.

The dollar fell to 149.50 Japanese yen from 149.71 yen. The euro rose to $1.0473 from $1.0468.

World

FILE - This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, on...

Associated Press

Iran’s top diplomat says ‘special measures’ may be taken to defend nuclear sites from Israel

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s top diplomat warned Thursday that his country would take “special measures in defense of our nuclear facilities” if Israel continues to threaten Tehran’s atomic sites, raising the stakes further ahead of a new round of talks with the United States. The comments by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered […]

16 hours ago

FILE - This combo of pictures show President Donald Trump, left, addressing a joint session of Cong...

Associated Press

What to know about the tensions between Iran and the US before their fifth round of nuclear talks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and the United States will hold talks Friday in Rome, their fifth round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. The talks follow previously negotiations in both Rome and in Muscat, Oman. President Donald Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” […]

20 hours ago

FILE -A label reading "Levis" on a pair of Levi Strauss & Co jeans is displayed at a production lin...

Associated Press

Kenyans worry a US duty-free trade deal might end and expose them to Trump’s tariffs

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — It’s crunch time for the maker of Levi’s and Wrangler jeans in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Hundreds of sewing machines whir in a crowded, air-conditioned factory. On another floor, workers pack clothes destined for the U.S. market. The fate of about 16,000 workers in the factory at the United Aryan export processing […]

22 hours ago

Associated Press

Asian shares slip as worries about U.S. debt send Wall St tumbling

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares fell Thursday after Wall Street slumped under pressure from the Treasury bond market and worries about surging U.S. debt. U.S. futures were little changed, while Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.8% to 36,988.36. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.5% to 23,711.58, while the Shanghai Composite was virtually unchanged, inching up […]

1 day ago

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with reporters during an availability following a cabine...

Associated Press

Canada is talking to the US about joining its ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system, Carney says

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday his government is talking to the U.S. about joining President Donald Trump’s future Golden Dome missile defense program. The multilayered, $175 billion system would for the first time put U.S. weapons in space. Trump said the previous day he expected the system to be fully […]

1 day ago

Power lines rise in front of electric towers and smokestacks at the Palo Seco power plant in Toa Ba...

Associated Press

$365M slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to power grid, sparking outcry

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that $365 million originally slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to improve the island’s crumbling power grid, sparking an outcry just days before the Atlantic hurricane season starts. The funds had been hanging in limbo in recent weeks, […]

1 day ago

Stock market today: Asian shares sag as worries over US-China trade weigh on outlook for the region