Asia report: Global macro fears hit stocks, Japan GDP revised lower
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Tuesday 11 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as concerns about the global economy deterred investors from taking on too much risk, while Japanese markets reacted to weaker-than-expected GDP figures.
However, losses were not as bad as they could have been, with declines on regional benchmarks relatively modest compared with the mass sell-off experienced on Wall Street the previous session.
The Hang Seng finished more or less flat, while the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.6% - cutting earlier losses of as much as 3% - and benchmark indices in Singapore and Taiwan fell 1.8% each.
Markets in New York tumbled on Monday after Trump refused to rule out a recession this year, instead saying the economy was in a "period of transition". The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both finished at their lowest levels in six months.
"Investors took a moment to catch their breath after dramatic declines on global markets yesterday," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. "Wall Street suffered a big hit as investors panicked that Donald Trump's policies could lead the US into a recession. Asian and European markets were already jittery ahead of Wall Street opening yesterday, so their relative calm on Tuesday bodes well for US markets to follow suit later today."
In Japan, GDP growth for the fourth quarter was revised to 0.6% from the initial estimate of 0.7% as private consumption figures were shifted lower.
Safe-haven demand benefitted the Japanese yen, which briefly rose to its highest in five months against the dollar before erasing earlier gains, settling at around JPY147.35 Meanwhile, the dollar index was trading at a four-month low.
In equity movements, Japanese tech names were among the day's worst performers, with Sony, Hitachi and Softbank falling sharply. Chip stocks elsewhere were also weaker, including TSMC and Foxconn.
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN