Asian shares sank Friday in early trading after U.S. stocks surrendered a chunk of their historic gains from the day before.
The deepening worries over President Donald Trump’ s trade war helped pull Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index down 5.6%.
Shares also fell in South Korea and Australia in early trading Friday.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%, slicing into Wednesday’s surge of 9.5% following Trump’s decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014 points, or 2.5%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.3%.
China announced more countermeasures against the United States and losses for U.S. stocks accelerated after the White House clarified that the United States will tax Chinese imports at 145%, not the 125% rate that Trump had written about in his posting on Truth Social Wednesday, once other previously announced tariffs were included. The drop for the S&P 500 exceeded 6% at one point.
