Global markets crash: Asian stocks tumble to multi-year lows on recession fears; Nikkei, Hang Seng, Topix drop up to 10%

Asian equity markets plunged on Monday, hitting multi-year lows, as concerns over a potential global recession intensified following the announcement of harsher-than-expected US tariffs by President Donald Trump.

Investor sentiment deteriorated sharply across the region, with no signs of a de-escalation in the ongoing US-China trade dispute.

The sell-off was triggered by the White House’s firm stance on implementing sweeping tariffs, coupled with China’s retaliatory measures, which included additional levies on US imports. China declared the markets had spoken on their retaliation through levies on US goods.

Wall Street crashed on Friday, while the US stock futures pointed to further losses. S&P 500 futures down 4.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures falling 3.5%, and Nasdaq futures tumbling 5.3%.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged as much as 8.8% to a 1.5-year low of 30,792.74 — a level not seen since October 2023 — before recovering slightly to trade down 7.3% at 31,318.79. All 225 constituents of the index were in negative territory.

The broader Topix index also suffered steep losses, declining 8% to 2,284.69. Trading in Japanese futures was temporarily halted earlier in the session after the market triggered circuit breakers.

Chinese and Hong Kong Markets

Mainland Chinese equities and Hong Kong stocks suffered heavy losses amid deepening concerns of a prolonged trade war. The CSI300 blue-chip index in China declined 4.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 8% in early trade. Alibaba share price and Tencent shares dropped more than 8% each.

China, now facing US tariffs exceeding 50%, responded by imposing additional duties on American goods, Reuters reported.

Other Asian Markets

The South Korean Kospi index declined 4.34%, and the tech-heavy Kosdaq slipped 3.48%. Singapore’s benchmark index opened 7% lower and was on track for its worst single-day performance since March 2020, Reuters reported.

In Southeast Asia, Malaysian equities fell over 4% in early trading, hitting their lowest level in 16 months. The Philippine stock market also slid more than 4%, while Taiwan’s market plunged nearly 10% on its first trading session since the latest US tariff announcement.

Indian Stock Market

The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open with sharp losses on Monday, tracking global markets crash.

The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a gap-down start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 22,094 level, a discount of nearly 864 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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