Stock market today: Asian stocks are mixed as week starts with
uncertainty over tariffs
[March 10, 2025] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stocks got a mixed start to trading Monday as
uncertainty persisted over what President Donald Trump will do with
tariffs.
U.S. futures were lower and oil prices also fell.
Shares in China led losses in Asia, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index
down 1.8% at 23,800.44. The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.2% to
3,366.16.
In the latest sign of weakness for the world's second-largest economy,
consumer prices fell in China in February for the first time in 13
months, as persistent weak demand was compounded by the early timing of
the Lunar New Year holiday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% to 37,028.27. Japan’s trade
minister, Yoji Muto, was visiting Washington for talks on ways to avert
higher U.S. tariffs on Japanese exports of steel, aluminum, and
automobiles.
“Taking into account the voices we have heard from the industrial
sector, we would like to hold discussions that will be a win-win for
both Japan and the U.S.,” Muto told reporters late last week.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”
that 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will take effect
Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the region, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2% at
7,962.30, while the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.3% to 2,570.39.
Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.5% and the Sensex in India gained 0.3%. Bangkok's
SET slipped 1.1%.
On Friday, Wall Street rose after a wild ending to a brutal week of
scary swings dominated by worries about the U.S. economy and uncertainty
about what President Donald Trump will do with tariffs.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 5,770.20 after storming back from an earlier
loss that had reached 1.3%. It was coming off a punishing stretch where
it swung more than 1%, up or down, for six straight days.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to 42,801.72, and the Nasdaq
composite rose 0.7% to 18,196.22. Last week was the worst for the S&P
500 since September and left the index a little more than 6% below its
all-time high set last month.
The head of the Federal Reserve helped ease the market’s worries on
Friday afternoon after saying he thinks the economy looks stable at the
moment, and he doesn’t feel pressure to cut interest rates in order to
prop it up.
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People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's
Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, March 10, 2025, in Tokyo.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
 “The costs of being cautious are
very, very low” right now, Powell said about holding steady on
interest rates. “The economy is fine. It doesn’t need us to do
anything really. We can wait, and we should wait.”
U.S. Labor Department said Friday that U.S. employers added 151,000
more jobs last month than they cut. That was slightly below
economists’ expectations, but it was an acceleration from January’s
hiring.
Recent, discouraging surveys had shown souring confidence for U.S.
businesses and households because of uncertainty around Trump’s
tariffs, and economists were waiting to see if Friday’s report would
show if that was translating into real pain for the economy and job
market.
The whiplash actions from the White House on tariffs — first placing
them on trading partners and then exempting some and then doing it
again — have raised uncertainty for businesses.
That sparked fears businesses might freeze in response to what they
have described as “chaos” and pull back on hiring. U.S. households,
meanwhile, are bracing for higher inflation because of tariffs,
which is weakening their confidence and could hold back their
spending. That would sap more energy from the economy.
Trump said Friday he wants tariffs to bring jobs back to the United
States, and he gave no indication more certainty is imminent for
financial markets. “There will always be changes and adjustments,”
he said in comments from the Oval Office.
On Wall Street, Walgreens Boots Alliance climbed 7.5% after the
pharmacy and drug store chain agreed to be acquired by private
equity firm Sycamore Partners. The buyout would take the struggling
chain private for the first time since 1927 and give it more
flexibility to make changes to improve its business without worrying
about Wall Street’s reaction.
In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 38
cents to $66.66 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard,
gave up 35 cents to $70.01 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar slipped to 147.58 Japanese yen from 147.94 yen. The
euro fell to $1.0823 from $1.0836.
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