Asian markets suffer losses as sweeping tariffs impact risk-on sentiment; Nikkei down 2.7%

Mirroring losses on Wall Street, Asian markets in Wednesday's session (April 9, 2025) traded in the red as a continued tariff blow is weighing on investors' risk-on sentiment. At the time of writing the copy, the key MSCI Asia ex Japan index traded with a cut of over 1 per cent.

Importantly, after China vowed to fight back and not withdraw the retaliatory tariffs imposed on US, the White House as threatened pushed ahead with tariffs and levied a 104 per cent levy on Chinese imports.

Earlier on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order for increasing reciprocal tariffs on China to 84 per cent, taking the total levy on China to 104 per cent, with 20 per cent already in place.

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Meanwhile, the dollar index also fell below 103 mark as the deadline for tariff looms. At around 8:43 am (IST), DXY was down at 102.42 levels. Also, China's Yuan which slipped to its lowest level against the dollar showed some recovery.

Furthermore, in Asian trade after a volatile overnight session, US stock futures also fell after Trump levied a steep 104 per cent tariff on China.

How Asian markets are faring?

Amid heightened nervousness, Japan's Nikkei was down 2.69 per cent, while Taiwan Weighted index was also down over 2 per cent.

Other Asian indices including Singapore's Straits Times, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi were down up to 1.5 per cent.

Crude price at its 4-year low

Amid the risk of an escalating trade war between the US and China, oil prices slipped to their lowest levels in four years in Wednesday's session. Brent futures lost $2.13, or 3.39 per cent, to $60.69 a barrel as of 0108 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $2.36, or 3.96 per cent, to $57.22.