Asian Markets End Higher Tracking Wall St Gains

Bangkok: Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday after US stocks swayed higher as President Donald Trump’s fast-approaching “Liberation Day” Wednesday sends stock markets swinging sharply worldwide. Instead of stocks, prices have been rising for investments considered to be safer bets when the economy is looking shaky. Gold rose early Tuesday to over $3,170.00 per ounce before falling back slightly.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was virtually unchanged at 35,624.48, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he was imploring Trump to not impose higher auto tariffs on Japan, a longtime US ally. A central bank survey found a worsening in business sentiment among big manufacturers. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 0.2 per cent to 23,173.75, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4 per cent to 3,348.44. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6 per cent to 2,525.44, while the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1 per cent to 7,925.20. Taiwan’s Taiex shot up 2.8 per cent, while the Sensex in India lost 0.2 per cent. Bangkok’s SET advanced 1.1 per cent.

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent to 5,611.85. It finished March with a 4.6 per cent loss for the first three months of the year, the worst quarter in two-and-a-half years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1 per cent to 42,001.76, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1 per cent to 17,299.29, pulled lower by slides for Tesla, Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks. Such neck-twisting turns have become routine for the US stock market because of uncertainty about what Trump will do with tariffs - and by how much they will worsen inflation and grind down growth for economies.

Wall Street’s swings followed a sell-off that spanned the world earlier Monday as worries built about the effects of the tariffs that Trump says will bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

On Wednesday, the United States is set to begin what Trump calls “reciprocal” tariffs tailored to match what he sees is the burden each country places on his, including things like value-added taxes. Much is still unknown, including exactly what the US government will do on “Liberation Day.”

At Goldman Sachs, economists expect Trump to announce an average 15 per cent reciprocal tariff. They also raised their forecast for inflation and lowered it for US economic growth for the end of the year. They now see a 35 per cent chance of recession in the next year, up from an earlier forecast of 20 per cent, “reflecting our lower growth forecast, falling confidence, and statements from White House officials indicating willingness to tolerate economic pain,” according to Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle.

If the April 2 tariffs end up being less onerous than investors fear - maybe Trump includes no additional tariff increases on China, for example - stocks could rally.