Market Reactions Across Asia

As the clock ticked on Tuesday afternoon, the Asia-Pacific stock markets were predominantly in the red. Investors were grappling with the implications of President Donald Trump's latest move—a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports set to commence on March 12. This development, coupled with China's retaliatory tariffs that took effect yesterday, has sent ripples across the financial landscape.

Performance Highlights

South Korea's Kospi managed to buck the trend, registering a 0.69% gain at 7:15 am CET. In contrast, Hong Kong's Hang Seng wasn't as fortunate, dipping by 0.25% at the same time. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 remained unchanged at the close, while Japan's Nikkei 225 was on a break due to a national holiday. Mainland China saw the Shenzhen Composite fall by 0.39% at 7:16 am CET, with the Shanghai Composite following suit, slipping by 0.11% a minute later.

Meanwhile, the dollar held steady against the yen at 7:17 am CET, trading at ¥151.9340.