Stock market today: Global shares trade mixed as investors weigh impact of US-China tariffs

[February 05, 2025]  By YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were trading mixed Wednesday as markets mulled the impact of tariffs being imposed by the United States and China.

France's CAC 40 shed 0.3% in early trading to 7,881.94, while Germany's DAX fell 0.5% to 7,881.94. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.2% to 8,558.31. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures falling nearly 0.2% to 44,620.00. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.5% to 6,034.25.

Earlier in the global day in Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped earlier losses and was little changed, finishing up less than 0.1% at 38,831.48.

Among Japanese issues, the stock price of Honda Motor Co. shot up 8.2% after Japanese media reports said its talks to set up a joint holding company with rival Nissan Motor Corp. were unraveling. Nissan stock tumbled 4.9%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 8,416.90. The Hang Seng dropped 0.9% to 20,597.09, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.7% to 3,229.49.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.1% to 2,509.27, as investors found bargains after the recent price dips and found optimism from the overnight Wall Street rally.

Some analysts see tariffs on China as separate from Trump’s moves against other trading partners. Trump may be more likely to keep tariffs on China longer, as he did in his first presidential term, to separate the United States more from its geopolitical rival.

Trump is pressing ahead with a 10% tariff on U.S. companies importing things from China. And China retaliated on Tuesday by announcing its own tariffs on some U.S. products and an antitrust investigation into Google.

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

China's 15% tariff on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas products, as well as a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the United States won’t take effect until Monday. That leaves time for negotiations between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Trade tensions haven’t exploded yet, but they’re simmering dangerously close to a full boil, and anyone brushing them off does so at their own risk,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

Trump on Monday agreed to delay his taxes on U.S. imports of Canadian and Mexican products for a month. Some traders hope Trump would likely be turned off by the damage Wall Street would take if a worst-case, long-term trade war were to occur. Trump has pointed in the past to the stock market as a real-time measure of his performance.

But a trade war is still possible, and some analysts say more swings may be coming because Trump’s threats should be taken seriously.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 40 cents to $72.30 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined 46 cents to $75.74 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar slipped to 152.95 Japanese yen from 154.30 yen. The euro cost $1.0404, inching up from $1.0382.

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