Asian markets are mostly higher in thin trading after a bumpy ride on Wall Street, where the Dow industrials lost 1.3% due to a weaker-than-expected profit report from UnitedHealth. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 1%, while the Kospi in South Korea rose 0.5%. Taiwan’s Taiex also saw a 0.3% gain.
Despite this, trade tensions remain a concern for investors. Global heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported a profit for its latest quarter and said it hasn’t seen a drop-off in customer activity due to President Trump’s trade war. However, the company expressed cautiousness about uncertainties and risks from tariff policies.
The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.1%, while Bangkok’s SET rose 0.6%. Many markets were closed on Friday for holidays ahead of Easter.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 edged up by just 0.1%, with three out of four stocks climbing in the index. However, Nvidia weighed heavily after its disclosure that new export limits on chips to China could hurt its first-quarter results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 527 points as UnitedHealth fell 22.4%.
Oil trading was paused Friday for the Easter weekend, and U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $2.18 to $64.01 per barrel. Despite this, economists worry about the impact of Trump’s trade war on the economy.
The tariffs remain a source of uncertainty, with Trump offering mixed signals about negotiations with other countries. The Fed is facing a dilemma between cutting interest rates and avoiding inflation. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.32% from 4.29%.
Reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed, with one report showing fewer job applicants and another showing manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly contracting. In Europe, indexes slipped 0.6% in France and 0.5% in Germany after the European Central Bank cut its main interest rate.
The dollar weakened to 142.37 Japanese yen from 132.44 yen on Thursday, while the euro rose to $1.1375 from $1.1367.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-powell-tariffs-6e9de7ff1f9c06e1dacab7cb24f37f3c